Red-X Volume 0: Origins
by Spidey108
Summary: Challenge from Dark King Marcel. Jonathan Strike was your average kid at Gotham Academy-if you discounted his father being the CEO of Strike Industries and John himself being well known for starting trouble. But a chance encounter sets him on a path to becoming something more. Rated T for now due to language and violence. Might be M later.
1. Chapter 1: The Decision

_**Chapter 01: The Decision**_

 _Gotham City, a city of many things._

 _People can usually describe it in one word if they think about it. But the city can be described differently depending on who is talking about it._

 _Everyone has an opinion on what Gotham City was._

 _Damned._

 _Cursed._

 _Fallen._

 _Hell._

 _And those are the nice descriptions of this city._

 _Gotham is 'Villainous'_

 _Gotham is 'Drama taken too far.'_

 _Gotham is 'Unsalvageable.'_

 _Gotham is 'For animals only.'_

 _But to me, unlike what other people think, I have my own way of describing it._

 _Gotham is 'Home.'_

 _I'm only fifteen and it's been my only home, when you grow up in Gotham nothing really frightens you._

 _Sure it's horrifying with the crazies and psychopaths that go rampant in the streets at times, but there is always hope in this city._

 _A hope that takes the shape of a bat._

 _The Batman, Gotham's Dark Knight-the Savior of the lone and helpless._

 _For almost two decades this single man has kept the streets of Gotham safe and he is usually followed by two more symbols of hope._

 _Robin the Boy Wonder and Batgirl, the light to Batman's darkness._

 _Heh, it's kind of cheesy when you say it like that but it doesn't make it any less true._

 _Not many people know this but there are four different Robins and two different Batgirls. The first Robin who is now calling himself Nightwing-the defender of Bludhaven, he was the original and I grew up hearing about him and the Titans for a good six years before he went there along with the first Batgirl who disappeared._

 _They were followed by the second Robin who showed how different he was from the first. While the first one was more of an acrobat, this second Robin was a born fighter that took on criminals with ease, enjoying the fights to an extent. This Robin disappeared though after three years and for two years Batman was a solo act, one that was extra hard on criminals to the extent of nearly crippling them for life._

 _It got to the point to where even the Police and civilians were wary of the Dark Knight._

 _Then the light came again in the form of the Third Robin who despite how people assumed it was the second one, I could see that it wasn't due to how this one fought differently, but his appearance brought out the lighter side of Batman that I grew up seeing as he began to act like how he always did and the city was given hope in this new Dynamic Duo for the next two years followed by the second Batgirl._

 _Then just like the second Robin the third one disappeared, although from how Batman was still the same, I assume it wasn't anything like the second one's disappearance._

 _And that's it-wait you want to know about the fourth Robin don't you? Well don't look any further because you're speaking to him._

 _Didn't see that coming did ya? I was the fourth Robin, though not anymore._

 _I guess I should start from the beginning instead of monologuing this huh?_

 _My name is Jonathan 'John' Strike and this is my story._

* * *

Jonathan Strike wasn't your average teenager, anyone could tell you that much.

The dark haired, blue-eyed fifteen year old was pretty well known in Gotham Academy for rude remarks against other students, flippant attitude towards the teachers and always one to enjoy a good fight.

Which was what he was doing now.

"Wow, you missed." John taunted, ducking a sloppy punch a grin on his face before he fought dirty by kicking the attacker in the groin making him bend over where he threw a left hook. "Really Franklin is that all you can do?"

Franklin Hudson, a teen his age with brown hair and green eyes pushed himself up a bit quicker than John was expecting and tackled John to the ground punching him in the face before John spat in Franklin's face, causing the teen to cry out in disgust while he was quickly pushed off.

John was about to curbstomp Franklin when he heard someone shout his name and looked to see one of the teachers coming towards the fight, red in the face from anger.

"Sup teach?" John asked in a lazy drawl to hide his annoyance.

It was no surprise that he was sent to the Principal's Office and was leaning back, a bored look on his face, the principal Henry Adams, an elderly man had a displeased look on his face.

"Jonathan what am I going to do with you?" Adams asked while John rolled his eyes due to the man now looking at his records. "Let's see that was your fourth offence with fighting this month and you still have detentions from the months before."

John looked out the window, not really listening as it was always the same.

He wasn't even the one who started the fight, all he did was finish them.

But none of the teachers saw it that way.

In their eyes he was the instigator of all of them no matter what he said.

"Why don't I call your father in to discuss your tendency for violence?" Adams asked at seeing how John wasn't even paying attention to him.

"Dad isn't in Gotham he's in Metropolis at the moment," John said, his tone a bit dark from the mention of his father. "Something about a business proposal with Lex Luthor."

Benjamin Strike was quite the businessman who was the CEO of Strike Industries, a business that rivaled Wayne Enterprises and Lexcorp for being one of the most influential businesses in in the world despite being a weapons company.

While Benjamin was a great businessman he was a poor choice for a father due to always choosing his work over family, even more so after what happened to his wife.

Adams frowned, getting an idea of what was going on. "You know there are better ways of getting your father's attention than by getting in trouble-."

John glared at the Principal. "I'm not trying to get his attention." He snapped at the elderly man. "So shut the hell up!"

* * *

Moments later, John was walking out of the office with a detention slip and a warning that if this behavior keeps up he'll be expelled.

He didn't care though because he didn't like the guy-okay maybe he went a bit too far in calling him an old fart but still.

So he wadded the slips up and tossed them in the trash and put his hands in his pocket while he walked down the hall to grab his backpack from his locker, not even bothering to look at the people he passed as school was getting close to letting out and it was the weekend so he didn't have to worry about school the next day.

But he could clearly hear the whispers.

"Isn't that Strike?"

"He's nothing more than a thug."

"Did you hear about what he did to poor Franklin earlier?"

John just gritted his teeth and opened his locker. "Wow, you're popular." He turned to the voice to see a teenager that was a year older than him with the same hair and eye color giving him a raised look.

He's seen this teen plenty of times during the year at this academy but never really talked to him.

"Right," John commented sarcastically to the newcomer. "What gave it away?"

Surprisingly the teen chuckled at John's sarcasm looking more amused than anything else. "Well the way everyone is looking at you did." He said, eyes looking from John to the other people who looked away.

"I don't really care what they think." John sighed and closed his locker, his backpack now on his shoulder.

"Probably a good thing, the name's Tim."

John raised a brow, now recognizing the teen as Timothy 'Tim' Drake, the son of Jack Drake former CEO of Drake Industries before the company went Bankrupt.

On that realization, John quickly looked away as Strike Industries was one of the reasons for the company going bankrupt because his Dad bought shares from that company.

"John."

"I heard," Tim was actually grinning much to John's surprise. "So Franklin huh?"

"What's it to you?" John asked a bit harshly not wanting that to be brought up while walking away, Tim now following him.

"Just wanted to talk to you about that," Tim gave a shrug. "Franklin has a cousin that's a member of Penguin's gang so you might want to watch your back."

John blinked, not expecting that before snorting. "Franklin would be nothing more than a petty coward if he did that." He said sounding like he was dismissing it but he was a bit worried.

Schoolyard fights were one thing, but someone in a Gang attacking him?

That's something he didn't want to happen.

"Take it from me, some people are petty enough to do that." Tim muttered while John gave a wave and went to leave before a teacher would force him to stay for detention.

Tim watched him leave before his eyes widened at seeing some people who looked casual across the street broke off from what they were doing and began to follow him discretely.

This was sooner than even he expected.

About to follow them, Tim cursed when he remembered that he promised his Dad he wouldn't be Robin anymore in order to avoid the man from outing who Batman and Nightwing were.

He couldn't even use his phone to contact them as his Dad would know from paying the phone bill-.

"The Payphones!" Tim felt a burst of inspiration and ran towards the office as fast as he could, using some pocket change to make the call.

Knowing he didn't have much time he opted to call someone he knew would pick up.

" _ **Barbara Gordon speaking-.**_ "

"Barb it's Tim."

It got silent on the other end. " _ **What is it?**_ " She knew about the deal that Tim made with his father and felt that if Tim was calling, it must be something important as she made sure the connection was secure.

"Is Bruce near the school?" Tim asked making sure no one was listening.

Now switching to her role as Oracle, Barbara began to type on the other line. " _ **He's just passing over it looking for Nygma after making one of his men talk, why?**_ "

"There's a kid that goes to this school, John Strike, he's being followed by Oz's men," Tim said quickly, not saying Penguin's name due to being in school still. "It's nothing to do with Oz, John got in a fight with another student whose cousin happened to be in the Gang."

Barbara got the gist of it. " _ **Got it.**_ "

Tim gave a sigh of relief. "Thanks Barb." He said relieved that despite not being Robin anymore he managed to help someone. "I better go before Dad see's me on the payphone."

If he could see Barbara's face he would've seen an angered frown as she hated the deal that Tim made with his father, knowing that Bruce, Dick, Stephanie and Cass felt the same way with Tim practically being a member of their dysfunctional family.

* * *

John felt nervous for the first time in awhile.

He could tell he was being followed the last few minutes, especially when he saw the same few people still there after six blocks, one of them on a phone two blocks ago.

Maybe he should've stayed for detention?

Taking a quick peek over his shoulder, John saw the same eight guys and quickly ran causing the eight of them to run after him confirming his suspicions.

' _Okay you can lose them._ ' John thought trying not to panic or trip while running around some people. ' _You know Gotham like the back of your hand._ '

Being born with a Photographic Memory really helps with memorizing the city.

Neither John or the Gang Members noticed a dark shape on the rooftop following them, already being on the lookout after a warning from Oracle.

John ran around another block before seeing a few more people with the same look to them as the other eight making John realize what the phone call was about.

Seeing that they were going to cut him off, John quickly turned down the alley only to feel his blood freeze, seeing that despite his Photographic Memory, he reached a dead end in his panic.

So he summed his situation up in one word.

"Shit."

John turned to see he was blocked in by fourteen guy's, a lot of them were cracking their knuckles.

"So you're the dumbass who was beating on my cuz." The big guy said with a smirk.

"You're Franklin's cousin?" John asked a bit faintly considering the guy looked like he was taking steroids-small one's not venom ones. "I'm not looking for trouble-."

"Should've thought about that before you injured my cousin." The guy started to walk towards John who had his back pressed up against the wall. "I might not see him all that much but family is family."

"Hey he started it, I was just defending myself." John couldn't help but snap wishing he could sew his mouth shut before he tried to run past the big guy but he was expecting that and grabbed John by his shoulder, pushing him towards his friends where two of them grabbed John by his arms.

"Oh so not only are you a little shit, but you're also a liar." The guy taunted knowing fully well that John was being truthful while reaching into his coat to pull out some brass knuckles. "I guess I should teach you some manners."

John struggled a bit despite knowing it was useless.

"Come on Dylan just hit him." One of the other's snapped a bit impatiently. "I promised my girl I would meet her for dinner."

"Now we can't have you be late." Dylan said with a chuckle pulling his fist back to begin.

John closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable pain-but it didn't come.

Instead he heard a cry of pain come from Dylan and the two guys let John go in shock.

Feeling confused, John opened his eyes and felt his mouth drop in astonishment as Dylan was facedown on the ground and a figure was standing up after using Dylan as a landing pad.

Most of the figure's body was covered by a dark, gothic cape that was attached to the cowl with pointed ears, white lenses narrowed at the thugs, the only part of his face that could be seen was the chin that was set in a dark frown.

One of the thugs snapped out of his shock and ran towards the man, intending to take him out, but the man quickly reached out, opening his cape to show grey body armor with a black bat symbol on his chest and a yellow utility belt, wearing black gauntlets and combat boots, grabbing the guy by the arm, using his other hand to easily snap the bone in the arm with it twisted in a different angle, followed by a punch to knock the thug out.

John quickly got out of the way as the twelve remaining thugs all rushed the Batman who quickly countered their every move with well-placed kicks and punches, the teen having to duck as one of them was sent flying into the wall before seeing behind him that Dylan got up, shaking his head while pulling a gun out of his coat.

Eyes widening, John didn't even think as he tackled the Dylan causing the gun to go off and miss Batman who turned in surprise not knowing that Dylan got up before he had to block another hit.

John quickly focused on Dylan who was glaring at him while Batman was fighting his boys before deciding if he was going to jail he might as well finish this and went to punch John who quickly ducked in fear of his life.

Dylan in his impatient annoyance seemed to forget about the brick wall behind John and felt a snap in his hand when it made contact.

Giving a cry of pain, Dylan placed his other hand in his coat to grab something.

By this point, John felt a rush of confidence followed by seeing that Batman was almost done with the last few guys. "Not so tough by yourself are you?" He taunted causing Dylan to lose it and the next thing John knew he felt a sharp pain in his stomach.

Coughing in surprise, John looked down to see that Dylan had a pocket knife in his other hand and the knife itself was embedded in his stomach with some blood pooling on his shirt.

That was the scene that Batman turned to after finishing the last two leaving him to quickly react and throw a sharp metal object in the shape of a bat right at Dylan's shoulder causing for him to let go of the knife, making John stumble when Batman quickly hit Dylan with a haymaker.

Now that Dylan was down for good, Batman quickly got to John who was losing consciousness, the last thing he saw before blacking out was Batman tearing off a piece of Dylan's jacket.

* * *

Batman bit back a curse at what happened.

There was no way around it, he got sloppy in this fight and didn't make sure the first guy was down in his haste to finish this and get back on Riddler's trail.

He was close to finding Nygma when Oracle called with a message from Tim much to his surprise, warning him about this so he kept an eye out.

' _Why didn't you run?_ ' Batman thought looking at the unconscious boy after he removed the knife and applied pressure with the torn piece of clothing, tying it there.

It was unusual for anyone to help him fight just like that as most of the people he saved usually try to keep out of the way.

His Detective Vision, a forensic miracle worker he used when investigating crimes, showed him that despite being stabbed it missed the major organs, but this boy would need stitches soon or he would bleed out.

' _The Hospital is too far away._ ' Batman thought before coming to a decision and pressed a finger to his cowl. "Alfred."

" _ **Yes Master Bruce?**_ " A well-mannered British voice answered back.

"Prep the Medical Equipment, I'm bringing a guest." Batman warned his old friend. "He's going to need stitches for a stab wound in his stomach."

" _ **Ah, then I shall assume the identity of Agent-A.**_ " Alfred Pennyworth answered back in amusement at the codename that Nightwing gave to him during his time as Robin.

Batman didn't give that response an answer and quickly picked the teen up, taking care not to aggravate the injury and walked past the unconscious thugs, pressing a button on his belt, while switching the coms to someone else. "Oracle, notify Gordon about the unconscious men in my location and tell them what happened." He then paused before continuing. "Leave the boy's name out of it."

" _ **Batman?**_ " Oracle sounded surprised before giving a nod. " _ **Alright, Batgirl is close to the area do you want her to make sure they don't wake up before the Police arrive?**_ "

"Yes." Batman answered right as the sound of screeching could be heard when a black armored tank-like car swerved around the corner, coming to a stop in front of Batman, opening to show two seats.

Batman carefully placed John in the passenger side and secured him before getting into the driver's side and taking off, going as quick as he could while avoiding traffic, with years of experience at this point.

Eventually the Batmobile drove on the outskirts of the city, large twisted trees all around with him driving a certain direction, taking care to make sure he wasn't being followed while giving a small glance at John to check his vitals, seeing that even though they dropped a bit he was still alive.

Then Batman came across a cliff and accelerated towards it, pressing a button on the dash of the Batmobile, causing for it to open up, showing a tunnel inside of it. Right as the Batmobile drove through the tunnel, it closed back behind him now looking like an ordinary cliff.

Driving quickly through the lit up tunnel, it opened up to show a huge cave with the Batmobile swerving to a stop on a large metal platform, the Batmobile opening up to have Batman get out in time to meet an elderly man in a black butler outfit, a gray mustache on his face while a domino mask covered his eyes.

"Master Bruce, I take it this young sir is the guest?" Alfred asked seeing the unconscious young man. "The Medical Table is prepared, if you would be so kind."

Batman gave a nod and carefully got John out of the car, carrying him towards where Alfred had everything set up.

"Call me when he wakes up." Batman said before turning to walk towards the main part of the cave where a massive computer was stationed with eight smaller screens all around it.

"As you wish, Master Bruce." Alfred said getting straight to work by uncovering the wound to show the bloody mess causing the man to mutter under his breath. "You always did make quite a mess Master Bruce."

Taking a washcloth to wipe the blood off, Alfred made sure that the wound wouldn't get infected before taking a needle and some thread to sew the skin back together.

John grunted unconsciously when the needle made contact with his skin, but Alfred continued to work.

While that was going on Batman was at the computer, looking through the Riddler's recent escapades with robbing a few banks wirelessly.

There was no doubt that he lost Riddler's trail at this point.

All that was left was the riddle.

'You do not want to have it,

But when you do have it,

You don't want to lose it.

What am I?'

It wasn't as difficult as Nygma's usual riddles showing that he was too overconfident and normally Batman wouldn't have too much trouble solving it, but his mind was flashing back to when John got stabbed.

It's been two weeks since Jack Drake found out who he was and Tim had to quit being Robin. With Dick being in Bludhaven an hour away most of the time and Cass patrolling other parts either by herself or with Spoiler, he's been by himself in locating the Gotham Rogues as people have taken to calling them.

Normally that wouldn't be a problem considering how Batman usually does work alone, in fact he sometimes prefered it. But John tackling that guy who nearly shot him threw Batman off and for a second it was like Tim was back to being Robin.

Taking his eyes off the riddle that Nygma left, Batman brought up the footage taken by the cowl of John fighting.

He was quick on his feet and obviously been in plenty of fights before, his technique was extremely clumsy however, more of a brawler than anything else before getting cocky which lead to him being stabbed.

While watching the fight, Batman then brought up his file, using a sample of his blood that remained on his gauntlet to find it.

' _Jonathan Strike, son of Benjamin Strike._ ' Batman frowned at reading that as he had a few meetings with Benjamin due to him wanting to have some shares in Wayne Enterprises. ' _Grades barely average, little to no social life, quite the record of offences._ '

It only showed offences for physical assault and Batman remembered before intervening how that man 'Dylan' said something about John beating up his cousin only for the teen to counter that he was defending himself.

Batman continued until he came across the medical records that showed that the teen had a Photographic Memory, something good to know as even the tiniest of detail could lead to him finding out who Batman was behind the cowl.

' _Hang on._ ' Batman looked back to his grades finding it odd at how someone with a Photographic Memory did so poorly before pushing that to the back of his mind and continued pausing as he heard soft footsteps walking toward him.

"How is he?" Batman didn't even turn as Alfred was behind him.

"The young sir is still out," Alfred explained to Batman not looking surprised to see the young man's file on the screen. "I took the liberty of hooking an IV up to him to ensure he remains hydrated and placed painkillers next to the table for when he wakes up."

"Thanks Alfred." Batman said cupping his chin in thought. "I'll be sure to take him back to his home when he wakes up."

It was to risky to allow for John to remain in the cave.

"If I may, how did the young sir end up like this?" Alfred asked curiously, leading to Batman to tell him everything from Oracle delivering the message to when the fight happened. "The young sir should count himself lucky that young Master Timothy alerted Miss Gordon to his plight."

Batman remained silent re-watching the fight, rewinding it to see how he could've done things differently.

"Just as you should count yourself lucky that he intervened before you were shot." Alfred said seeing that making Batman frown.

"It wouldn't have killed me Alfred, my suit would've prevented me from being seriously injured."

"That may be so Master Bruce, but the young sir didn't know that," Alfred pointed out. "Now as your hunt for the dreaded Riddler resumes I assume you'd like a fresh pot of coffee to help you through the night?"

Batman gave a subtle nod of thanks to Alfred, knowing that Nygma was one of the few people who could stay ahead of him for awhile just behind the Joker.

* * *

John coughed, gritting his teeth in pain as his stomach flared up before he opened his eyes, about to place his right hand over his eyes due to the light only to hiss in pain when he felt something in his arm.

Looking despite not being used to the light in his eyes, John saw an IV with a bag of water nearby and wondered if he was in the hospital-.

That train of thought went out the window the moment he saw the ceiling with stalactites on the top and bats nestled near them.

Definitely not the Hospital then-.

Wincing as he pulled the IV out, John swung his legs to get up before his stomach flared again and he quickly placed a hand where it was finding two things.

One, he was shirtless which was something he didn't notice at first due to how groggy his mind was.

Two, he had stitches on his stomach.

"Right, I was stabbed." John muttered thinking back at it before his eyes widened at a sudden thought.

He was in a cave and the last thing he remembered seeing was Batman-.

No. Freaking. Way.

John looked around as much as he could and he could see Batman from here working on a huge computer before seeing a Giant Penny and a mechanical Dinosaur on the other side of the cave.

There were even cases where he saw different suits.

"The Batcave." John whispered due to the fact that the fabled 'Batcave' was considered to be a myth to the residents of Gotham, no one thought the place was real.

"You're awake." A monotone voice spoke up causing for John to jump, regretting that action when his stomach flared up again.

Thankfully the action didn't pull any of the stitches.

Batman watched as John grabbed his stomach with a pained look before gesturing to the table where two pills and a glass of water were. "Those are painkillers to counteract the pain."

John felt a bit awkward as Batman said that and quickly grabbed them.

It was hard not to feel that way to a man who was not only one of Gotham's most infamous residents but also was able to fight off twelve people at once, possibly more.

Drinking the water to wash down the pills, John looked at the Dark Knight. "Uh thank you." He said kicking himself for sounding like an awkward teenager rather than his usual confident self.

"Ah the young sir is awake?" Alfred's voice spoke up surprising John as he saw the butler, with a cup of coffee on a tray followed by something draped over his arm.

"... Hi?" John sounded very unsure as he was surprised at the idea that the Batman seemed to have a Butler, even one wearing a mask.

So he opted to look around, the image of the Batcave burned into his mind, wanting to take everything in.

"What were you thinking?" Batman's voice cut into John's thoughts and he turned back to see the man had a glare through his white lenses.

John blinked, not understanding the question. "Wha?" He asked not sure what the Vigilante was referring to.

"You should've got out of there instead of tackling that man." Batman elaborated, his lenses narrowed. "That man could've easily killed you as your injury showed."

Just like that all forms of gratefulness to the Dark Knight for saving his life was gone. "What was I supposed to let him do, shoot you?" John asked, annoyance coloring his tone. "Well excuse me for not wanting that to happen!"

Batman's frown deepened, but under the mask he hid a look of surprise being reminded of Jason at the moment.

Seeing the frown, John winced and looked away thinking he put his foot in his mouth yet again. "I-... It wouldn't be right if I just left you to fight after you saved me," He muttered under his breath, but both Batman and Alfred could hear him clearly. "Sorry."

Batman didn't say anything else when a loud beep from his computer attracted his attention, so he gave a nod to Alfred before walking away, the elderly man giving him the cup of coffee as he passed.

Watching Batman walk away, John saw Alfred walk up to him and handed him the item that was draped over his arm.

It was his School Shirt.

"All sewn and cleaned young sir, do you require aid to put it on?" Alfred asked referring to his injury.

"Oh no thanks," John looked surprised before giving a sheepish grin. "Thank you-uh."

"For the time being you can call me Agent-A." Alfred easily saw the problem while John carefully pulled the shirt on.

"Agent-A?" John looked surprised before giving a nod considering Batman's true identity was one of the most well-kept secrets in Gotham, so it would make sense for this guy to not give out his real name either. "Nice to meet you."

Alfred gave a polite nod while John stood up, the painkillers beginning to take effect and looked around the area a bit more in awe.

"How did he fit a Giant Penny or the Dinosaur in here without anyone noticing?" John muttered seeing it again.

Alfred had an amused smile. "Very carefully, Master Batman has many ways."

John let out a small chuckle, now seeing the Batmobile. "So… What now?"

"That is for Master Batman to decide," Alfred told him seeing how the teenager was barely reigning in the same sort of excitement that Masters Richard, Jason and Timothy showed at seeing the Cave for the first time. "Once he finishes looking into his case no doubt he will take you back home."

"R-right." John said knowing that was more likely, after all it was probably weird that the Vigilante brought him here at all.

So chances were this would be the last and only time he would see this place.

"I guess I can't mention anything about this either." John said a weak attempt at a joke as no one would believe him even if he did want to talk about it.

Thankfully, Alfred saw that he was kidding and gave a kind smile. "That would be for the best," He said to him. "Do you want something to drink young sir?"

That surprised John before he shook his head. "Oh no thanks, I'm good Agent-A… Sir." He said trying to be polite.

"Very well." Alfred said and this time John heard the small amusement in his tone.

But he walked around the cave, making extra sure to not go to far as he didn't want Batman angry at him for wandering into a place he shouldn't be and saw the different suits.

It wasn't just Batman's suits, he even saw some different Robin and Batgirl suits before he saw a lone Robin suit off to the side by itself in a glass case.

That surprised John and he approached it, recognizing the suit from the news that he saw years ago.

This was the suit that the second Robin wore before he disappeared, why was it here like-.

… A Memorial.

John suddenly got an idea of what happened to the second Robin and backed away to avoid looking disrespectful, but he turned only for Batman to be right behind him causing him to let out an unmanly shriek of terror.

"Okay now I know you enjoy doing that," John snapped placing a hand over his chest where his heart was pounding from the scare. "Jeez."

Batman just kept his frown. "It's time for you to go." He said as the teen was patched up and is already showing signs of wandering the cave.

He didn't wait for an answer as he turned to walk towards the Batmobile, missing the look of small disappointment that John quickly hid.

That Agent guy did say this would happen.

So John walked towards the Batmobile, taking a small glance at the computer to see the riddle and he found himself saying before he could stop himself. "So why are you looking at a riddle for a lawsuit?"

That stopped Batman who turned towards him, his eyes narrowed. "What?" He asked sounding both annoyed and surprised while John froze.

' _Oh great I just poked the bear._ ' John thought as he probably wasn't supposed to look at the computer.

But he continued while pointing at the riddle. "I've seen that riddle before while I was on the computer a few weeks ago," He said remembering the riddle clearly. "It came up as a Youtube Ad that I couldn't skip."

Batman didn't say anything to that last part while he looked at the riddle now seeing the answer clearly.

This narrowed down the places where Nygma was staying at quite a bit-.

"The Abandoned Courthouse." Batman murmured to John's confusion before remembering the teen and gestured to the car. "Get in."

Knowing that he probably pushed his luck far enough, John listened but not before giving a wave to Alfred who was nearby to be polite.

Batman got in a second later and handed John a blindfold. "Put it on."

John gave Batman a dry look but on receiving what he was beginning to call the Batglare he listened.

It got awkward for John as he could hear the car humming and knew that they were going extremely fast. "I feel like you're going to pull over and snuff me." He randomly said and winced underneath the blindfold. "Not that you would but still."

He didn't know if Batman even looked his way or acknowledged what he said.

A few minutes later he spoke again. "So is there any chance I can get your autograph?"

"No." Batman's tone told John that he was really pushing his luck now.

"Oh okay… Good talk." John went silent for good this time.

Eventually the car slowed to a stop. "We're here." Batman said allowing for John to take the blindfold off to show that they were across from a large apartment complex where some of Gotham's rich live, the Batmobile hidden in an alley.

"Right, hey thanks again for everything." John said looking away from Batman. "I wouldn't be here if you didn't intervene."

"Be sure to stay out of trouble." Batman warned him.

"Got it, I'll just stay home for the weekend." John said giving a nod and getting out, making sure no one was around.

With that he walked across the street, Batman making sure he went in before he waited a few minutes to drive out, that way if anyone saw the Batmobile they wouldn't think that John just got out of there,

It was time to bring Nygma in.

* * *

John took a deep breath when the elevator opened to the top floor and walked towards room 1206, using his key to get in, pausing at seeing the light was on-.

"So you finally came home," A voice spoke up showing a man that had a shaved head and a black goatee, piercing brown eyes looking at him. "Where have you been young man?"

"I thought you were in Metropolis." John said without thinking at seeing his father Benjamin Strike sitting at a table, a laptop on it.

"I came home early due to Lex having… Complications in his company." Benjamin said not saying what really happened. "Now where were you?"

John winced, not having a lie ready because he sure as hell wasn't saying he was in the Batcave. "Just walking around the city."

"No doubt out partying." Benjamin said in a tone of disappointment that John got so used to hearing. "And what's this I hear about detentions for assaulting your classmates?"

"Hey they started it-." John tried to defend himself only for Benjamin to scoff.

"Excuses, you shouldn't even let them bother you but I guess I shouldn't be surprised." Benjamin said making John's shoulders droop. "Speaking of school I received your report card in the mail."

Now John's shoulders were shaking a bit.

"If I didn't know your mother so well I would assume you were someone else's child from your lack of decent grades." Benjamin told him sharply.

John felt his eyes sting and quickly looked away, refusing to look weak in front of his father, but it didn't matter as Benjamin clearly saw that.

"Your tutor will be arriving early tomorrow morning so I suggest you get some sleep." Benjamin said his tone clearly saying this talk was over.

"Yes father." John said quietly.

Benjamin waited until John left the room before scoffing under his breath. "His mother was way too soft on him," He said before resuming the video call. "Continue." The blonde haired man on the line looked awkward from overhearing the whole conversation.

"Right, the calculations for the weapon are coming along nicely sir." The Scientist said eager to get back on track. "It's all speculation but it should take up to two years for us to complete."

"Two years? That's unacceptable Shriev," Benjamin said to the scientist his tone holding no respect for the man. "We are almost the world's leading experts in weaponry right behind Lexcorp. I want you to speed it up."

"Sir we don't know what will happen if we do that-." Walter Shriev protested but Benjamin cut him off.

"But you know what will happen if you continue that sentence," Benjamin reprimanded sharply causing Shriev to quiet down. "Six Months, that's how long you have."

"Yes Mr. Strike." Shriev said hiding his discomfort while Benjamin cut the connection and leaned back, looking out the window of his apartment with a satisfied smirk.

* * *

The next morning, John exited his room to see his father watching the news a look of annoyance on his face at seeing the Batman on the news again his opinion on the masked vigilante was very clear.

"And by the end of the night Edward Nygma, AKA The Riddler was apprehended by the Batman at the Abandoned Gotham Courthouse." The News Lady Vicki Vale said surprising John as he clearly remembered Batman mentioning the Courthouse when he asked about the riddle-.

' _I indirectly helped catch the Riddler._ ' John had a grin on his face at the thought.

"In other news Billionaire Bruce Wayne has made a donation to the GCPD in an attempt to help clean up the city," Vale said making Benjamin scoff, but John didn't listen as his eyes widened.

Standing beside Bruce Wayne was a very familiar butler, a black hat over his head.

The same facial structure, same mustache and John quickly imagined the Domino Mask over his face before his jaw dropped.

Agent-A?!

Then he quickly looked at Bruce Wayne easily seeing the resemblance from how tall the man seemed as well as the lower jaw and quickly placed his hand over his eyes to where he only saw the jaw.

It was a match.

' _Bruce freaking Wayne is the Batman?!_ ' John thought in shock and that was when Benjamin finally noticed John.

"And what are you gawking at Jonathan?" Benjamin asked in annoyance snapping John out of his thoughts.

"Oh uh nothing." John said looking away.

"Tch Wayne is just looking to get underneath someone else's skirt no doubt," Benjamin muttered, showing contempt for the Wayne Family making John look away. "His parents must be rolling in their graves."

John just looked away.

It was still unbelievable at what happened.

The doorbell rang causing Benjamin to sigh.

"That must be your tutor."

* * *

Back in the Batcave, Batman was on the computer, this time his cowl was off to show the face of Bruce Wayne, his dark hair groomed while his sharp blue eyes looked over some files that pertained Jervis Tetch who was still on the loose before he brought John's file back on the screen.

He couldn't help but think that this teen made it easier for him to find Nygma the other night while berating himself for not thinking of that simple answer sooner. True he had other things on his mind at the time but that was further proof that he was getting sloppy.

"Looking into young Strike again sir?" Alfred asked walking up to Bruce, a tray of food in his hands to ensure that he ate as Bruce had a tendency to forget meals while working.

"There's a chance that Dylan Hudson could contact others to finish what he started," Bruce said to him with narrowed eyes. "He'll need to be watched, I'll contact Robin to-."

Bruce stopped now closing his eyes at the slip-up.

"I mean I'll contact Oracle to keep an eye on him." Bruce continued despite Alfred's understanding look.

"Master Bruce it's fine to admit that you miss Master Tim being around," Alfred's words made Bruce stop. "We all do."

Bruce just looked away.

* * *

The next few weeks passed by as a blur to John who kept his cool a bit more in school due to his injury still healing along with Franklin being subdued due to the arrest of his cousin and he was currently drawing in his notebook a very detailed sketch of the Batcave, remembering how it looked quite clearly while enjoying the sunlight in the school courtyard.

He still couldn't get what happened out of his head.

Not only did he meet the Batman, he saw the Batcave and even figured out who the Batman was.

Bruce Wayne.

Now it all made sense with how the man seemed to be ready at all times whenever he was needed and all of the tech he uses along with the motive considering what happened to his parents.

But it also helped him learned that the first Robin was Dick Grayson who was in Bludhaven as a cop with Nightwing there and the second Robin being Jason Todd who was said to have died in a bombing years ago.

It didn't answer who the two Batgirls were or who the third Robin was but John wasn't looking into them as he knew way too much.

If anyone figured out what he knew he would get in a lot of trouble and that's without saying what Batman would do if he knew that John figured it out.

"What are you drawing?" Tim's voice surprised John as he didn't hear the older teen sneak up on him and turned to see Tim looking over his shoulder.

"Oh uh nothing." John lied lamely not seeing Tim's widened eyes at the perfect replica of the Batcave on the paper. "Just wanting to make a comic someday."

Tim clearly knew he was lying but he played along. "You have quite the talent for it." He said now a bit worried.

"Heh yeah I have an eye for drawing details." John rubbed the back of his head, not wanting to give anything about Batman out as keeping the secret was the best option.

"So would it be a superhero comic?" Tim asked casually with John giving a nod to continue the lie. "Alright on the subject of heroes what do you think of the Batman?"

That caught John off guard. "W-What?"

"Well he's considered to be a 'superhero' despite being a vigilante." Tim said smoothly as if it was just a random topic he brought up, his eyes searching John. "So what do you think of him?"

John was clearly uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation but he took a deep breath and answered. "Well I haven't met him," He said not seeing Tim look amused at the very blatant lie. "But from what I've heard he's the reason this city is still standing after everything that happened from the arrival of criminals like Joker, Scarecrow and Killer Croc."

"So you support him?" Tim asked earning a nod from John.

"Of course, if he wasn't around a lot of people wouldn't be here today." John said looking away. "I grew up hearing all about him and his allies."

At this point Tim gave a nod and stood up. "Alright thanks." He said walking off now confusing John as he thought that was a bit weird.

Unknown to him, Tim was feeling conflicted.

In truth Tim saw a little of himself in John when the guy wasn't angry or annoyed and he's clearly been to the Batcave which meant he talked to Bruce. The fact that he remembered every little detail showed a good memory and he supported Batman.

Tim still stood by the belief that Batman needs a Robin to keep him in check from going over the edge, but was it right for him to push this issue? Bruce was deadset against Tim being Robin after what happened to Jason, hell he never tried to be Robin in the beginning, he was trying to get Dick back to being Robin but that didn't end well.

Not only would he be putting John's life in danger by giving the okay-if Bruce accepted the idea that is-but it was also him letting go of the role that he made for himself. Tim hoped that someday he would be able to regain the role of Robin as he really enjoyed being it, but he had to be realistic here.

But first he had to find out a bit more about John, to ensure if he wanted to do this and if John was right to be considered for that mantle.

* * *

That night while his Dad was asleep, Tim was on his computer, looking into some hacked files of John Strike, glancing over some of the stuff that Bruce would most likely know before seeing that John's Mother, Jacqueline Strike, was deceased.

So he looked more into that and eventually found the file of the case, learning that there was an attempted robbery at Strike Industries, the witness statement was taken from-.

Tim's eyes widened.

It was from a six year old John as he witnessed her death.

"Damn." Tim muttered feeling some sympathy for the teen, Batman wasn't there as during that time he and Richard who was Robin at the moment were dealing with Poison Ivy on the other side of Gotham and the criminal Herman Schultz was currently in BlackGate to this day.

Copying the article and the files to an opened E-Mail that he had encrypted, Tim typed in a message and hit send before shutting the computer off.

Now the decision was Bruce's.

* * *

Late that night, Bruce was just pulling the cowl off in the Batcave after a mess at City Hall involving the Ratcatcher who was shipped off to Arkham Asylum. It's been a busy night for the Vigilante and he was pretty sure it wasn't over yet before he saw the Computer lit up to show that he had a message.

Expecting it to be from either Nightwing, Oracle or even the League, Bruce was surprised to see it was from Tim and even more surprised when he saw the case file showing John Strike's mother being murdered that happened in front of the teen causing his eyes to harden.

What was Tim playing at?

With that showing he read the message.

' _ **I've been talking to John for a while and today I noticed he had a very detailed drawing of the Batcave.**_ ' The message began concerning Bruce. ' _ **He lied about what it was obviously although it got me thinking. Remember when I first approached you about being Robin, how I said you needed one? I still believe that.**_ '

Bruce now got a pretty good idea where Tim was going with this.

' _ **I looked into John despite the 'popular' opinion of him in school, he's a good person. Someone who can help you in the field if you accept this idea, or you could find someone else rather than him. Just please consider the idea of getting a new Robin. Stay safe out there - T.**_ '

Bruce reread the message a few more times before taking it off the screen.

Was Tim insane?!

He really wanted Bruce to have someone else take the Mantle after everything?

Bruce went to focus on the ongoing Hatter Case, but he didn't hit a single key, the message just repeating itself in his head and he pulled it back up to show the tear-stricken face of John as a kid.

So much like how he was, like how Dick was.

' _He has potential._ ' Bruce thought despite himself, thinking back to how John quickly solved the riddle with a glance due to seeing it before and from what Tim said he had a sketch of the cave that he recognized.

But Bruce looked back over at Jason's memorial the event of John standing in front of it playing in his head.

' _Do I have a right to bring another person into my war?_ ' Bruce thought leaning back.

"Penny for your thoughts Master Bruce?" Alfred's voice broke into Bruce's thoughts causing him to turn to see his old friend standing nearby with a raised brow.

Alfred always seemed to be there whenever Bruce needed advice on something.

"Tim sent me a message concerning John." Bruce said surprising the butler.

"Ah did Master Timothy find something wrong with young Strike?" Alfred asked a bit concerned as Bruce has been looking into the teen for awhile.

Bruce went quiet before speaking up. "Tim told me to consider John to take over the Robin Mantle."

"I see," Alfred said, his tone not betraying any sort of emotion. "And do you plan on letting Young Strike do this?"

"I-," Bruce stopped and gritted his teeth, hating himself for being so indecisive it made him feel weak. "I shouldn't, I already brought enough people into my war. I shouldn't have done so after Jason but with Tim coming I made exceptions for Stephanie and Cassandra, I need to stop."

"If I may be so bold sir, perhaps Master Timothy has the right idea," Alfred put in his opinion, leaving Bruce to give him a look asking for clarification. "You let Master Timothy assume the mantle because you knew he was right at the time. You were being far too reckless with criminals and refused help nearly getting yourself killed countless times."

Bruce frowned. "That hasn't happened since though."

"And for that I am most glad sir, but you aren't as young as you used to be," Alfred reminded him. "Just think about it sir."

Alfred turned to leave it at that, as nothing more needed to be said on the matter. "Alfred," The Englishman stopped at Bruce's voice. "Thanks."

"It was my pleasure Master Bruce." Alfred said knowing that whatever Bruce would decide he would support him with no hesitation.

When Alfred was out of sight, Bruce looked back to the file and sat back in thought.

* * *

John was entering his apartment later that week as his father left Gotham yet again, this time heading out to Keystone City to look over the Strike Industries facilities there, once more leaving the teen by himself but sometimes John just preferred it that way.

At least with Benjamin gone he wouldn't be demeaned over every little thing, but it still didn't stop John from wishing he could get his father's approval-.

John turned on the light giving a yelp when he saw Batman in the room.

Placing his hand over his heart, John glared. "Seriously, stop doing that!" He snapped at the Vigilante. "I swear you took at least ten years off of my life by this point."

Batman didn't say anything to that and John looked a little confused, especially at the small package underneath the man's arms.

"Is something wrong?" John asked now worried. "You're kind of creeping me out now."

Batman shook his head. "I'm here to offer you a choice." He said to him, placing the package on the table before walking towards the opened window to look over the city.

Surprised by the sentence and how the vigilante was acting, John approached the table where the package was and assumed that Batman wanted him to open it, so imagine his surprise when he saw a Robin uniform in there causing his mouth to drop open.

"I-uh-what?" John asked not sure what to say.

Batman didn't look at him when he answered. "What I'm offering you isn't easy. It is filled with challenges as well as consequences that you may pay in the future," He said wanting to make sure John knew the risks before giving the answer as there was no backing down now that he gave him the choice. "You're very life would be in danger if you accept this."

John swallowed and looked at the uniform. "Why?" He asked wondering what possessed this man to even think about having him as Robin of all people.

"You remind me of them." Batman said as this teen had Jason's attitude along with Dick's knack for cracking jokes and Tim said that John's memory showed he could make a good detective if trained that way. "Good and bad."

Taking a deep breath, John had to sit down from what he was hearing when Batman continued.

"Know this if you choose this I will expect your dedication and nothing less are we clear?" Batman asked his tone leaving no room for argument. "If you do not meet my expectations you're out. If you fail to follow my instructions you're out. If you go farther than what I deem necessary you're out. Do you understand?"

Now John was feeling very overwhelmed. "C-Can I think about this?" He asked hesitantly.

Batman allowed for the frown to soften as this was a big decision to make. "You have one day," He told him causing for John to look at the costume. "There's com link inside of the box for you to give me your answer."

John looked back up but Batman was already gone, causing for him to run and shut the windows, making sure it was locked and the blinds were down.

He then locked the door and took the package to his room and pulled the uniform out fully.

It was missing the belt, which wa obvious as there was no way Batman would hand him any of the gadgets until he deemed he was ready, if he accepted.

But the uniform was pretty different from how the third Robin looked as while the tunic was red with the R emblem on the upper left chest area, the cape was black with yellow showing on the inside, a hood was even on the cape itself and dark pants along with the green gloves with the famed domino mask that Robin wears.

John knew he was just given a chance of a lifetime but he was also questioning it.

Why did Batman ask for him to take this role? How did he even get into this situation in the first place?

But the most important question was this.

Did he have what it took to be worthy of the name Robin?

* * *

John didn't get any sleep at all as his mind was plagued with what happened, repeating it over and over in his head along with reasking the question.

Was he worthy of the name?

Hearing the alarm going off, John tapped it and knew that he had two hours before he had to be at school and he saw the uniform that was placed back in the box before he moved towards it.

A few moments later he stood dressed in the uniform, his closet mirror in front of him while he placed the gloves on finding surprisingly that the uniform fit perfectly, before he grabbed the mask and slowly placed it on.

Even though he knew it would stick, John was surprised when it did and looked in the mirror with the hood pulled up to shadow his face and he had to admit he looked very intimidating.

"Do I want this?" John asked himself.

After a minute or so of thinking some more, he came to a decision and reached into the box to grab the com link and place it in his ear.

He barely pressed it when Batman's voice came through. " _ **Do you have your answer?**_ "

John took a deep breath. "I'll do it."

" _ **After school today you are to head to the alley where I dropped you off and wait for me to pick you up, if you aren't there I won't wait,**_ " Batman warned him. " _ **We will return to the Cave every day for four hours of training before I drop you off at home. During the weekends you will inform your father that you will be staying at a friends house and leave a number I will give you for if he wants more information. You will continue your training there until I decide differently and you will also spend your time studying and keeping up with your schoolwork.**_ "

"Yes sir." John said unable to believe this was really happening.

" _ **On the subject of school you will remain out of trouble to avoid having detentions interfere with your training do you understand?**_ " Batman asked with John hesitating on this one as trouble usually found him.

But he gave a nod. "I understand."

No going back.

 _ **To Be Continued…**_

 _ **This story was a challenge presented by Dark King Marcel and I have to say it was a blast to write this chapter, especially since I went more into the characterizations of Batman/Bruce Wayne, Alfred and Tim Drake then I have in my former Batman stories which I took off for personal reasons, truthfully I didn't think I would be able to make this chapter as long as I did but I had help in making it.**_

 _ **Now the name John Strike I'll admit is inspired by Young Justice: Red X, by Hexalys which was an amazing story in itself, but John here is his own character for now-you'll see him don the Red-X identity in the future and yes Red-X will be a hero in this fic not a thief.**_

 _ **So I hope this chapter was good enough to show John's character as well as everyone around him and next chapter you will see his training to become Robin and him meeting the other members of the Bat-Family.**_

 _ **Most of the content will be inspired by the Arkham Games in the future with notable changes and I will be taking some content from the animated movies and comics and some cartoons. For example while the Titans will be the comic ones, I plan to have them portrayed as older versions of the show considering that was how I see them as. The story will really take off when Jonathan becomes Red-X later on.**_

 _ **Oh and sorry for the lame riddle as I said before I suck at riddles, I'll try to make more appropriate ones to compensate at a later date.**_

 _ **Okay now I'll be working on the Interludes to my Pokemon story next before coming back to this one**_

 _ **So tell me what you think. This is Spidey Signing Out!**_


	2. Chapter 2: Vigilante Training 101

_**Chapter 02: Vigilante Training 101**_

John sighed while messing with his locks, his back leaning against the wall of the alley where he's been for the last five minutes while he had his backpack on, the Robin suit inside of it.

He left the suit home under his bed until school let out that way there was no chance of it being discovered, now John was hoping that Batman would show up soon so there was no chance of him being mugged.

But as he waited he thought back to how the legendary dark knight was actually Bruce Wayne and the man didn't know that John knew.

' _If I'm going to be his partner with him training me, I should at least let him know I figured it out._ ' John thought, a frown on his face. ' _But how should I tell him?_ '

Maybe he could wait a few days before letting him know?

John was pulled out of his thoughts when he looked up to jump when Batman was in front of him, smacking the back of his head on the wall.

"Damnit, stop it!" John muttered his head now sore.

Was this going to become a thing?

Batman however frowned. "We're going to need to work on you minding your surroundings." He said gesturing to the Batmobile that John didn't see pull up.

How did he-?

As if the man read his mind, Batman answered. "I've been here for the last ten minutes with the car cloaked," John gave him a look of disbelief. "I wanted to test your awareness as even with it cloaked you could see it if you look carefully enough."

"And I failed," John muttered climbing into the car with Batman now in the driver's side. "Great first start."

Batman didn't say anything with the car now speeding through the city, handing him the blindfold.

John saw it and decided to get it out of the way. "I know who you are Mr. Wayne."

It got quiet, even more than earlier as Batman looked at him, his face impassive.

John gulped a bit audibly with the silence almost being suffocating. Did he just screw up his chance to be Robin?

However Batman just put the blindfold down and continued driving. "What gave it away?" He asked his tone betraying no emotion while confirming John's suspicions.

Batman saw John let out a sigh of relief when he continued. "Well your lower jaw being shown helped," He said rubbing the back of his head. "The same structure and I saw Agent-A with you on the news one day, the mask would work on anyone else but I saw the same facial features, the same mustache, that's what put the suspicion in."

Even though he didn't show it, Batman was impressed as what John lacked in fighting tactics or awareness he made up for in putting clues together, not only that but he was also letting the Dark Knight know what to work on to prevent anyone else from finding out.

He then asked another important question.

"Is it just my identity?"

John considered lying before deciding against it. "No, it became clear who Nightwing was as well as the second Robin," He saw how Batman tensed at that being mentioned and quickly changed from what he saw was a very sensitive subject. "I didn't look into the third Robin or the two Batgirls because I thought I knew too much."

With that he looked out the window, tapping his knees while they were speeding past every car-John had a feeling that Batman was possibly breaking every speed law in existence by the time they shot out of the city.

John however was both confused and scared when Batman began to drive full speed at a cliff, giving a yelp before it opened up and they shot in, causing for him to look at the vigilante who he swore had a smirk of amusement but it was gone before he could be sure.

"Okay what is it with you and giving me heart attacks?" John muttered right when they shot into the Batcave and swerved onto the metal platform.

"Welcome back sir." Alfred greeted, the mask in place until he saw Batman take the cowl off after getting out of the car. "Ah young Master Jonathan knows?"

"He figured it out," Bruce answered with Alfred calmly taking the domino mask off. "Is there any trouble?"

"No sir, all of your esteemed Rogues are in Arkham, leaving Batgirl and Spoiler to watch over the streets tonight." Alfred said to him.

"Good," Bruce said walking past Alfred to a set of stairs that John saw but didn't go up his last time before looking at John.

John got the message quickly and followed, by the time he was up the stairs he saw what looked like a gym area of the cave filled with weights, what looked to be gymnastic equipment, punching bags and a huge mat where it looked like spars took place.

Bruce was just taking the cape off, letting it fall to the floor while he had two metal poles in his hands and tossed one to John who clumsily caught it.

"You're going to fight me." Bruce explained to the confused teen, rolling his shoulders before doing the same to his neck to relieve tension.

"What?" John asked a bit pale.

"If I'm going to train you I need to know what you can do so we have a basic idea on how to improve," Bruce explained a bit impatiently, twirling the staff at a fast rate before getting into a stance. "So we're going to have a spar."

John was looking at the staff, clearly remembering how he spun it.

He saw how it happened, but knew he wouldn't be able to do it that fast as sadly photographic memories don't work like that.

So tried to copy him at a slower rate, something Bruce took notice of and got into the same stance, albit a sloppy one. "Any rules?" John asked not sure what to do.

Bruce gave a slight smirk. "First one to five hits wins."

John gulped with both of them circling each other.

He could already tell he was in a losing battle and Bruce knew it.

' _Alright, he's the one with the most experience so he'll be expecting a head-on attack, but the man is also skilled in close combat so it wouldn't matter if I did a head-on or not I'm still screwed._ ' John thought trying to stay calm. ' _He's also a strategist considering how long he's been doing this so he's probably looking at me for exploitable weaknesses. Not only that but he knows this place well while I'm still a newcomer, so he has home field advantage._ '

This was seriously not fair at all.

But John didn't complain, seeing that the only move he could make was a head-on attack.

Thankfully, John had one thing on his side.

Bruce was in his early forties at this point so wasn't as limber as he was, although that's not saying much at all.

So John rushed at Bruce, swinging the staff with all of his might only for Bruce to quickly block it and spun around, jabbing the end into John's chest sending him to the mat.

"That's one." Bruce said with John pushing himself up and repeated the fist action, but when Bruce attempted to counter, this time John was ready and blocked the end of the staff.

Although then the other side smacked him in the ribs, not hard enough to bruise but enough to get him to back off.

"Two."

John glared before taking a deep breath and ran again, only this time he used the end of the staff to launch himself like how some Gymnasts he saw on TV with a kick ready, but Bruce dropped the staff, grabbed his feet and spun around tossing him across the mat.

Feeling a bit groggy, John's eyes widened and he barely rolled out of the way when the staff slammed where he was, making sure to put some distance between him and Bruce.

Good lord this man was unreal.

This time however Bruce came at him and John didn't have time to block when the staff connected with his chin, sending him back.

' _Ow, ow, ow._ ' John thought rubbing his chin before feeling another jab at his chest and Bruce backed off.

That was four to nothing now.

"Hey you hit me while I was down." John glared at the man.

Bruce however spun the staff again. "Never said I wouldn't."

As he said that, John got the hidden message.

If he does become Robin the criminals won't go easy on him, so Bruce had no intentions of easing him into fighting.

' _Fine if he wants to play it that way._ ' John narrowed his eyes and stood up.

John thought back to all the moves that Bruce used.

He had the stances and how he moved memorized, but his reaction and muscle memory wouldn't be able to keep up unless he kept practicing.

So he would have to do what he always did in a fight.

Fight dirty.

But he held no illusions that Bruce wasn't holding back because the man could've taken him down for real in one move so even if he manages to tag him at least once, he still wasn't good enough to take him on for real and wouldn't be for a long time.

So he ran at Bruce who frowned as it seemed to be the same thing as the first tactic, only when he went to block he was caught off guard when John spat in his face, making him stumble as John swung the staff, about to connect with his stomach.

Surprisingly, Bruce blocked it with his staff causing John to frown and spun around, to use the other end.

Again he blocked it.

How the hell?!

John quickly dropped his staff and was barely able to grab Bruce's staff when it swung at him, stopping it from hitting him, allowing for John to pull himself close to deliver a punch but Bruce headbutted John, knocking him to the floor.

That was the end of the spar as Bruce hit him five times and finally wiped his face with a look of annoyance.

"You cheated." Bruce said causing John to chuckle, knowing that the man wasn't accusing him, he just stated a fact.

"Never said I wouldn't." John threw his words right back at him.

Bruce picked up both staffs before holding out a hand to help John up, one that the teen accepted, ignoring his pounding head from the surprise headbutt. "You have a long way to go," He said making John sigh as even with his usual tactic of cheating, he didn't land a single hit on the guy. "But a good start."

That caught John off guard as he looked at Bruce in surprise, the man was putting the staffs up.

He quickly masked his surprise when Bruce turned back towards him.

"So what now?" John asked as while he got his butt handed to him easily he has to admit he really enjoyed the spar, maybe that was why he always enjoyed the schoolyard fights?

"Now we get to work."

* * *

Late that night after John was dropped off, looking extremely exhausted and sore from the exercises and small weight training to build up some muscles, Bruce was in his Batman gear gliding across the city with the memory cloth cape heading for an old clock tower.

Landing on the top, the rafter shifted a bit to show a camera that scanned him before it opened up, allowing for him to drop in where a young woman in her late twenties with shoulder-length red hair was typing on a computer, in a wheelchair.

"You know you can just walk through the door right?" Barbara Gordon asked before he could say anything, turning to give him a warm smile. "You here for Cass, Bruce?"

Surprisingly Batman shook his head before tossing her a flash drive. "What do you think?"

Barbara raised a brow, plugging the flash drive in before looking surprise to see the spar between Batman and John, especially with Batman's cowl off. "When did this happen?" She asked wondering if Batman yet again made a decision without letting anyone else know.

"Tonight, last week Tim contacted me about giving the mantle to John." Batman told her. "He has potential, he even figured out who I was after one meeting."

"Does he-?"

"No, he only guessed who Nightwing and Jason were." Batman said looking away at Jason's name causing Barbara to sigh as Alfred was the only person who could really talk to Bruce about Jason.

"You do realize Jason might flip when he finds out right?" Barbara asked considering since his return from the grave as the Red Hood a year ago, Jason Todd has been very distant from the others, more so to Bruce, Dick and Tim than anyone else, never mind if he finds out that Batman apparently took on another protege two weeks after Tim's forced retirement.

Batman didn't respond to that however as he got to why he was here. "How are Stephanie and Cassandra coming along?" He asked, purposely changing the conversation.

"Cass is doing very well, especially with the lone patrol's in Gotham, Steph is catching up and is currently with Cass out in Gotham, I figured with the usual rogues locked up it was the perfect time to see how her training has improved." Barbara said bringing up a hacked camera in Gotham to show Batgirl and Spoiler patrolling a few blocks away.

Batman gave a nod to that, although he raised a brow as it looked like the two were playing tag on the rooftops. "Once John is up to speed, I plan to bring him over to spar with either of them." He said making Barbara nod as it would be beneficial to all of them as while Spoiler and Batgirl always sparred with each other they knew each other's every move by this point-Batgirl more than Spoiler-but throw in John when he's had some training and it would be a new experience for all of them.

"Let me guess, teach him some hacking when he's around?" Barbara asked as that was her field of expertise that she, Dick and Tim excelled at, it became a must-have in their line of work so she's been trying to teach it to both Cass and Steph.

Steph was pretty good at it but she was still focusing more on learning to fight and Cass was still having trouble with speaking and reading due to how her language centers of her brain were all over both hemispheres instead of being centralized so that hampers her learning how to hack.

Batman didn't say anything but Barbara has been around him long enough to know the signals.

* * *

' _Two Months passed for me ever since I began my training with Bruce and I had to say I was really getting the hang of it, especially with how we were sparring at this moment._ '

John ducked and blocked a strike, spinning to try and hit Bruce but he moved back quickly.

' _To say it was hard would be a hell of an understatement as the man threw just about everything at me from weight training to learning different kata's, escape artistry and even how to punch as it turned out I was doing it all wrong and putting all of my strength behind each blow which tired me out quickly._ '

Bruce spun the staff, making it extend to swing at John who brought his staff up to block it, but the force made him slide back on the mat before Bruce was on him relentlessly. Despite his best efforts, John was hit two or three times.

' _I was still nowhere near Bruce's level, hell I nowhere near the level to be a Robin either but I was better than when I started. I was also a lot calmer in school now because I used the training as a way to take out all of my aggression rather than schoolyard fights so I was actually getting into less trouble._ '

John landed on his back but used the momentum to spring back to avoid the staff, landing a bit back before lunging a wild gleam of excitement in his eyes that Bruce took note of.

' _A lot of people noticed the change, mostly the teachers in my school were confused while some of the students were beginning to find me more approachable rather than just avoiding me, although they were still wary of me and I still didn't talk to many people considering that I wouldn't have time for a social life with what I was training for._

 _It was quite the routine._

 _Wake up and go to school, get home before Bruce picks me up, then I train until I head home to do my homework._ '

Bruce parried the blows before grabbing John's outstretched arm and tossed him over his shoulder sending him rolling, but John was back on his feet.

' _It wasn't just physical training either._

 _Bruce randomly quizzed me on various profiles of the different criminals in Gotham, both regular and costumed. Or just anything on the News to have me pay attention to just about everything around me, to be fully aware._

 _The man was a slave driver and at first I had trouble keeping up with everything but I was finally beginning to improve-._ '

John stopped when he actually managed to tag Bruce in the left bicep, causing for his eyes to widen but that made him drop his guard leaving Bruce to knock him to the mat, the staff pointed at his jugular.

"Just because you tagged me doesn't mean you stop," Bruce said stepping back so John could push himself back up. "You should've continued from there and press your advantage."

"Because hesitating is bad," John finished as that was one of the lessons he was taught. "Sorry, I was just surprised that's all."

"Don't be you're improving." Bruce said making John smile.

That was why he loved doing this.

John admits it's a bit shallow to enjoy the compliments of improving despite how Bruce made it clear he was still in training but he didn't care. It was more than his father ever gave-.

"I'll say," A new voice cut in causing for John to spin around in shock as someone was leaning on the railing above, dressed in black one piece suit-one that John knew was lined with Kevlar from how the material looked-with a blue wing across his shoulders, making a v on his chest, a domino mask in his hands while two escrima sticks were strapped to his thighs. "Big improvement from the video Oracle had."

"Dick," Bruce greeted Nightwing, his first Protege who hopped over the railing, doing an acrobatic flip to land on the mat. "It's good to see you."

"Likewise Bruce." Richard 'Dick' Grayson greeted his former mentor before giving a small wave to John. "So you're the new guy, John right?"

"Y-yes?" John was obviously confused as to what was going on, causing Dick to raise a brow.

"You didn't tell him?" Dick asked Bruce.

"Tell me?" John asked in confusion. "Tell me what?"

Bruce went to answer before the Batcomputer went off, something that was slowly becoming familiar to John, knowing that his training was most likely going to end early once again due to whatever trouble Batman was needed to solve.

Both Bruce who picked his cape and cowl off the floor and Dick ran to the computer, making John feel a bit awkward when he followed. "There's a Break-In at GothCorp." Bruce mused with a frown. "Cryogenics department."

"Freeze?" Dick asked making John blink as that was a name he knew from his studies, but one that hasn't been heard from in two years.

"Most likely," Bruce walked off pulling his cowl over his face. "I'll look into it, alone."

"Got it." Dick gave a lazy salute.

"I guess I'll just head home then?" John asked only to be surprised when Batman shook his head. "Wait, I'm not?"

Batman didn't answer when he got into the Batmobile and took off, leaving both Dick and John in the cave.

"Okay that was cryptic, even for him." John muttered, tensing when Dick unexpectedly messed with his hair.

"You'll get used to it, you hungry?" Dick asked making John blink at the sudden, random question. "I think Alfred baked some cookies earlier, you ever tried them?"

"No, I've only been training when I come here." John answered remembering how Alfred did offer to make him something at times but he refused the offers politely due to wanting to continue training, although the man did bring some cocoa and water at times.

John had a small smile due to how he honestly liked Alfred because of the man's wit and humor always bringing out a laugh from him.

"Well we can't have that, come on," Dick looked pretty cheerful as he lead John through the cave to a lift. "So you met the others yet?"

Thinking he meant this Oracle, along with Spoiler and Batgirl who have made the news a lot more lately, John shook his head. "No, just Bruce and he kept me busy training." He said, frowning at a thought. "Wait, you said something about this Oracle having a video?"

Dick chuckled, leaning back with the lift going up. "Yeah, it showed the first spar with Bruce," He explained causing for John to look embarrassed that him getting his butt kicked was recorded. "I have to give you props, you're the first person to spit in Bruce's face during a fight."

"Wait, no one has done that?" John asked a bit surprised by that revelation, the lift coming to a stop. "You would think someone would."

Seriously, it might be gross but it's effective-then again not really considering how it ended for him.

"Probably hasn't crossed their minds," Dick gave a shrug, the door to wherever the young man was leading John to opened up, showing a study room. "Given how intimidating Bruce can be to criminals I think they're too busy trying not to wet themselves."

John gave him that one, walking out with Dick, pausing to turn and see the entrance to the cave was a wall that closed up to show a Grandfather clock.

"You sure Bruce won't mind?" John asked a bit hesitantly considering the fact this was the man's house.

"It'll be fine," Dick told him with a grin. "Besides being cooped up in the cave isn't good for you."

"Master Richard, I thought I heard your voice," Alfred's voice came from the Kitchen. "I assume Master Bruce is out in the city?"

"You know it Alfred," Dick had a smile on his face. "I was going to offer to go but you know how he is with his alone time."

"Indeed, I swear he spends more time in that cave then he does anywhere else," Alfred said in good humor. "Thank heavens you and the others didn't take after him in that. Now I take it you're hungry?"

"What? I can't drive all the way from Bludhaven to see family?" Dick asked in a hurt tone, leaving Alfred to just raise a brow at him. "I didn't even use the Zeta Tube this time."

"Zeta Tube?" John asked not hearing that term before.

"Think of it like a teleporter that the Justice League uses to get around so quickly." Dick simplified for John, making the teen blink a bit surprised by that.

"That actually explains a bit." John muttered now realizing how weird it was that just about every hero in the Justice League got around easily.

So John followed the two to the kitchen when Dick spoke again. "Anyways I also came because Bruce wanted me to help out in training as well." He explained to the teen.

"Wait, really?"

* * *

Batman had a dark look on his face while driving the Batmobile back to the cave later that night.

It was definitely Freeze who broke into Gothcorp that night, although he only had the security footage of it happening as the man took out the guards before they knew what happened, thankfully they weren't killed by being frozen but it does beg the question of why Freeze came back now.

The man has been off the grid for two years, especially after Ferris Boyle, the former CEO of Gothcorp was arrested for causing the accident that changed the man and attempted to kill Freeze to cover it up.

' _Something must've happened with Nora, that's the only motive for Freeze to do this._ ' Batman deduced, his eyes narrowed.

Freeze was one of his enemies that Batman honestly felt sorry for due to his circumstances, but he also had a duty to stop Freeze from harming people.

If only Freeze accepted for Nora to be kept at Wayne Enterprises to help find a cure but after Boyle, Freeze made it a point to never leave her in anyone's hands.

Driving into the Cave, Batman took his cowl off when he parked the Batmobile, about to head to the computer before he heard a pained moan followed by laughter.

Raising a brow, Bruce changed directions to make his way to the training area to see John curled up on the floor while Dick was attempting not to laugh, failing to do so at that.

"Do I want to know?" Bruce asked not sure what he walked in on.

"I thought it would be fun to show John some acrobatics to practice and he ended up doing a split by mistake." Dick managed to get out.

John slowly lifted his head up to glare at Dick. "I think I see how you got your nickname." He muttered out ignoring the urge to flip the acrobat off.

"Well look at it this way, if the hero business doesn't work out you might be able to make it in the circus." Dick joked and this time John didn't resist the urge to flip him off, making the young man laugh harder.

Bruce just sighed and rubbed his temple at this.

* * *

Three months later, John fidgeted nervously in his Robin Attire while he was in the Batwing with Batman.

It wasn't for a patrol as he only had five months of training and was still unfit for it, but he was extremely nervous.

Why?

Well Batman finally decided he was ready to meet the others that he works with.

Or as translated he proved he was able to be trusted with meeting them.

"Quit fidgeting." Batman didn't even look at him while driving.

"Right." John took a deep breath, attempting to calm himself down while looking out the window, seeing Gotham below them. "So do I introduce myself as John or Robin?"

Considering how he doesn't know who Oracle, Spoiler or Batgirl were it could stand to reason that they don't know that Batman is Bruce Wayne. Sure saying his name was John wouldn't give out too much considering that John was a casual name and has no ties at all to Bruce, but John has learned how to be cautious at this point.

The man's paranoia was rubbing off on him.

Hell, John still didn't know who the third Robin was and every time he asked he just received a look.

"Go by Robin for now." Batman said giving him permission to use the name, causing the teen to smile before the top of the Batwing opened up to have the wind blowing in their face and Batman jumped out his cape gliding him towards a clock tower with the vehicle on autopilot.

"Okay, you can do this." Robin muttered, remembering the explanation about the memory cloth cape that Alfred and Batman told him about.

This won't be like the practice in the Batcave with the manmade air currents Batman had.

So he jumped, resisting the urge to scream with how high up they were and held onto his cape, right as it stiffened up with the air current, gliding him through the area.

Batman was watching him as he made his away to the rooftop of the Clock Tower, barely grabbing the edge.

"You'll need practice." Batman said to him while the teen pulled himself up.

"Practice right," Robin muttered following the man, feeling giddy to be out on the rooftops before they came to a stop when a part of the roof opened up to Robin's amazement and Batman dropped down. "Whoa."

Shaking his head, Robin dropped down after him, faltering a bit from the height of the drop before he straightened up to see Batman talking with a woman in a wheelchair, he assumed that was Oracle-.

Robin spun around at hearing a creak, a Birdarang from his belt ready, something that Batman began training him how to use in the middle of his third month of training only to pause when he saw a girl close to his age in a purple uniform with a silver belt along with black gloves and boots, a hood on her cloak like his, with a full black face mask that had white eye slits.

Although Robin couldn't see her face, he could tell from her stance that she seemed amused. "Down Bird Boy." She commented, some mirth in her tone at how jumpy he seemed.

Robin blinked, now recognizing her from the files and news as Spoiler. "Uh I knew you were there." He lied placing the Birdarang back in his belt.

"Sure you did." Spoiler crossed her arms, still looking amused before looking behind him. "You buy that?"

Robin blinked, turning to see another girl, who he knew was Batgirl from the look of her, wearing light dark body armor with a gothic cape and a yellow bat symbol on her chest, although the odd thing was her full face mask, the bottom part looking like it was stitched shut.

"Hi?" Robin sounded uncertain, berating himself for letting someone sneak up on him.

Although he didn't do that too much considering these two were veterans compared to him.

Batgirl just gave him a nod, leaving him a little more confused on how to follow up from that.

So instead, he opted to look around the Clock Tower, a bit amazed by how hi-tech this place was compared to the Batcave.

Even if it was a bit smaller.

He could feel the two watching him, most likely wondering how he would compared to the third Robin who he saw from their files was a close friend of theirs.

"Um, how long have you two been in the business?" Robin knew of course but he was trying to start a conversation to avoid being the awkward outsider.

"Close to two years." Spoiler answered with Batgirl just giving a nod.

"Oh, cool." Robin reached up and scratched behind his head with the hood down.

Well, this was definitely getting awkward.

Thankfully, Batman came up to them, causing the three to act differently.

Spoiler loosened up, looking ready for a fight. Batgirl got into a very serious pose and Robin looked nervous but ready to help with whatever he was brought here to do.

Instead, Batman just said. "Stay here." and shot a grapple to go out the way they came in leaving Robin to gape a bit.

"And here I was hoping we would be training under him for the night." Spoiler muttered.

"It's not as glamorous as it sounds," Robin didn't stop himself from saying wincing from all the light injuries from the training. "But it works."

"No you three are going to continue your training under me." Oracle rolled up causing for Robin to get a good look at her.

"Wait, I know you." Robin said, surprise in his tone.

Oracle smirked at his surprise. "Barbara Gordon, but in the field you call me Oracle," She told him. "Now, how well do you think you are in terms of fighting?"

"Nowhere near Batman's level," Robin deadpanned with a shrug. "But he's the only one besides Nightwing that I sparred with and I know they're both holding back on me."

He didn't miss Oracle's eyes flash to behind him where Batgirl was before he felt a hand on his shoulder.

Robin turned to see Batgirl gesturing to the big area in the Clock Tower, most likely where the spars take place.

"Okay?" Robin sounded a bit relieved as Batgirl only has two years of experience in crime-fighting instead of the twenty years that Batman has, so it should be easier to fight her then Batman.

At least this way he would be able to see how well he matched up-.

Robin only blinked when he was sent flying into the wall a few seconds later.

It didn't happen immediately as he managed to block the first hit, but then Batgirl just moved like she could read his movements and remained two steps ahead of him.

"What just happened?" Robin asked out loud earning a snicker of amusement from Spoiler while Batgirl tilted her head.

"You underestimated Batgirl because she hasn't been in this business as long as Batman." Oracle answered for him causing for Robin to raise a brow.

"I didn't underestimate her." Robin pushed himself up.

"Subconsciously you did, I've seen the video that Batman sent, you let your guard down a bit in this spar." Oracle explained while Robin frowned and looked at his gloved hand. "You just didn't realize it."

"I-. I see," Robin stopped himself from arguing while looking at Batgirl with a frown. "I still have a long way to go."

The fact that she was only two years into this and showed such skill was astounding, but Robin couldn't help but wonder where she really learned how to fight because that type of skill wasn't natural.

' _If Batman wanted for me to know he would've told me._ ' Robin decided, knowing that the man only shared what was necessary for the moment.

So Robin got ready. "Best two out of three?" He asked with a grin.

Much to his surprise, Batgirl just walked up to Spoiler tapping her shoulder allowing for her to walk up.

"Nah it's my turn." Spoiler said in what seemed to be a playful tone. "Ready to go handsome?"

Robin nearly dropped his guard at hearing that, his face heating up as they circled each other.

* * *

John sighed, now stepping into his home the next day after school.

Bruce decided to give him a rare day off, something that he figured Oracle-or Barbara talked him into.

Thinking of Oracle, John thought back to Batgirl and Spoiler.

They were nice, sure it was a bit scary that these two girls who were close to his age could kick his ass ten times over but they seemed friendly enough.

Now that was something he's been worried about since he was technically replacing the third Robin, how would that Robin's friends react?

John looked up to grimace as he saw his father working on something.

In these five months, he's been drifting further apart from Benjamin due to both his company and John's 'nightly-activities' but the man has been demeaning him a bit less due to how his performance in school has improved.

But he was still his father. "Hey Dad." John greeted with a grin, causing for the man to look up, annoyance in his eyes at the interruption.

"What is it?" Benjamin asked, his tone showing his mood.

"Just wanted to talk." John pushed a bit. "Is there anything I could help with-?"

"No there isn't," Benjamin said coldly. "And I would be doing better if you weren't here distracting me."

John looked away knowing that his father practically just dismissed him.

' _I shouldn't even bother._ ' John thought walking towards his room.

Sitting on his bed, John looked towards his TV, a XBox One near it, untouched ever since he began his training.

"Man I wish I was back at the cave." John muttered finding it weird to be spending the day in his own room rather than training at the Batcave.

But it was more than that.

John was getting a bit restless from doing nothing these past five months but training and while he would love nothing more than to go out there and be Robin he remembered Batman's warning from when he accepted.

If he went out there without Batman saying he was ready he would lose the opportunity to be Robin.

John laid on his bed, a foot across his knee with his hands behind his neck in boredom.

There were just so many questions going through his head.

When would he be able to join Batman for patrol?

What happened to the last two Robins?

Will he do good on his first patrol or disappoint Bruce?

For some reason that last part stuck with John the most.

At first the thought that he was scared of disappointing Bruce confused John due to the fact he only knew the man for a short time-was five months considered a short time?

But as it continued with that fear getting bigger, John realized that the reason it was there was because the man despite his harsh training regimen and rules, he did more for him than his own father has.

Resisting the urge to groan, John sat up and adopted a meditation stance to try and clear his head.

What were those words he heard Dick mutter under his breath? Azarath something?

John once asked him about that and he said they belonged to an old friend of his.

' _Clear your damn head._ ' John told himself.

* * *

The next few days were a blur between training in the Batcave or being in the Clocktower where Barbara began to teach him how to hack and he has to say hacking seemed very easy-well when it's explained in full detail to him and he was shown how to do it.

Although he still had a long way to go considering despite clearing a firewall, Barbara said his way would set off some alarms.

Currently he was in the Clock Tower, messing with the built in computer on his gauntlet with a frown.

Barbara sure upped the difficulty in this hack, a triple layered encryption with twenty different passwords needed to shut it down.

They were just getting harder and harder everyday and he spent a good hour on this one.

' _Well she is definitely Batman's tech support._ ' Robin thought absentmindedly.

Robin frowned when the computer beeped showing that he failed in hacking the encryption after only getting six passwords and was kicked out for the day.

"Another failure?" Spoiler's voice spoke up but Robin didn't feel any surprise considering before he was kicked out he heard the floor creaking with soft footsteps, showing an improvement of minding his surroundings.

"Yeah, man she makes it look easy." Robin said earning a chuckle.

One good thing about being in the Clock Tower was the fact that he got to know both Spoiler and Batgirl a bit, although the latter didn't really interact with him that much considering how she didn't seem to talk and seemed to be out on solo patrols sometimes with Spoiler joining her but now when they spar she doesn't go all out on him and his combat prowess have improved significantly to where he was almost ready for the field.

"I know what you mean, every time I think I got good she just throws in a harder encryption," Spoiler shook her head making Robin raise a brow. "What?"

"You hack?" Robin asked earning a look causing him to backtrack nervously. "Not saying you can't, but I haven't seen you do that."

"Doesn't mean I don't know how."

Okay, Robin had to give her that one.

"How did patrol go?" Robin asked, changing the subject as he knew that both Spoiler and Batgirl were out earlier.

"Same as it always is, just muggers and gang bangers," Spoiler shrugged. "Not really much of a challenge."

Robin smirked. "But they're still dangerous." He quipped earning a half-hearted glare.

"Speaking of patrol how long before you're out there?" Spoiler's question caused for Robin to groan.

"Soon I hope," Robin muttered looking at the ceiling. "I mean I get that Batman wants for me to be ready before taking me out there but I'm getting antsy from the wait."

"Gee if you said something earlier Batgirl and I could've snuck you out with us." Spoiler said knowing the feeling.

Heck she started being Spoiler with less training and equipment and came out okay-sure there were a lot of close calls but still.

Robin's head snapped towards her quickly. "Wait what?"

Spoiler chuckled at his reaction and messed with his hair playfully, causing for him to glare. "Next time ask Bird Boy," She teased before standing up. "I need to go, see you next time."

Robin blinked while watching her leave.

He could've gone out that night?

As tempting as that sounded, Robin thought of the consequence with a pissed off Batman and shuddered.

He's good with waiting.

Using the wrist-mounted computer Robin saw that he still had some time before Batman picked him up and stood up to see if Barbara had anymore hacking tests for him to work on only to see what he deemed a weird sight.

Batgirl was looking through what looked to be a kids book and she seemed to be struggling.

"You alright?" Robin asked walking up to her and from the way her head snapped up, it was obvious he surprised her.

That alone worried him considering how she is extremely hard to sneak up on, only Batman himself has been able to do so.

Eventually she just gave a nod.

"So what are you reading?" Robin asked another question, attempting to extend an olive branch considering he only interacted with her whenever they sparred.

Batgirl didn't do anything at first but she eventually closed the book and showed the cover of it.

'Goodnight Moon'.

"I remember that book, it was always a favorite of my Mom's." Robin smiled a bit remembering how when he was a kid he loved reading that book.

Batgirl tilted her head to the side, most likely a bit confused by how he kept talking when it was clear he didn't understand her.

Seeing her movement, Robin was brought back to the present and absently scratched his cheek in embarrassment feeling a little awkward. "I'm not really good at socializing," He explained with a chuckle. "Never had anyone to talk to before I met Batman and he's not exactly the role model for socialization."

Batgirl was still just looking at him and Robin briefly would she could say something as he had no freaking clue what she was thinking or where to venture in this albeit one-sided conversation from here.

"So you enjoying the book?" Robin figured that would be a safe question until he saw her tense and figured he probably made her angry, making him wince as he decided to make a tactical retreat. "I'll just go."

Robin barely took three steps when he heard a word. "Stop." He paused at the voice and turned incredulous to Batgirl who placed the book down.

"Did you just-?" Robin didn't finish the question, not sure if he imagined it or not.

Batgirl just gave a nod.

' _Okay this ruled out her being mute._ ' Robin thought still a bit in shock. ' _But how come I'm just hearing her speak now of all times?_ '

But as he looked her way, Robin's eyes caught some paper near where Batgirl placed the book and noticed how the writing looked undecipherable even though he could tell it was just the alphabet-not all of it only the first few letters.

Suddenly it clicked into place. "You can't read."

He meant for it to sound like a question, but it came out as a statement instead with Batgirl pausing before giving a small nod.

' _And her lack of speaking could mean that she doesn't know English._ ' Robin thought thinking that would make sense before he found what was wrong with that theory. ' _Then again she would've spoke a different language but she never spoke to my knowledge until tonight. Plus she understands how everyone speaks so that rules that thought out._ '

Now he got why she seemed tense.

Batgirl was annoyed but not at him. Just at the struggle she was facing, one she couldn't solve with her ability at fighting.

"Any way I can help?" Those words were out of Robin's mouth before he could stop himself.

Batgirl slowly turned back to him. "What?"

Okay, that's two words now.

Robin forced a nonchalant grin on his face. "Do you want some help?" He offered this time with more conviction in his tone holding his hand out. "I might not be the best speaker but I can make a good study partner."

For a good few seconds Batgirl just looked at him, causing for Robin to fidget not knowing that what she lacked in her ability to speak, read and write she more than made up in her ability to tell what a person was thinking from their body language.

And she could see that Robin sounded confident but was extremely nervous and was unsure of what to do.

However from his stance she could see that he was being honest in wanting to help so she gave a nod.

"Okay."

Robin blinked. ' _Three words? Now that's a record._ ' He couldn't help but think while he got around to seeing what she had so far so they would know where to start.

* * *

Robin was reaching the end of his sixth month of training, right now in the Batcave fighting Nightwing who stopped by.

It began as a stick-fight considering that was Nightwing's main method of fighting but after a few moments of frustration, Robin threw his sticks down and began to fight with the style that suited him.

His fists.

Nightwing blocked the hit and acrobatically flipped over Robin who watched with a hint of jealousy.

Sure he was way more limber than he used to be and could move acrobatically better than most people, but Nightwing was on a whole other level compared to him.

Robin knew that he would never be able to reach Nightwing's skills in that department because the man has been trained in it his whole life, long before he became a crime-fighter.

Raising an arm to block one escrima stick, the gauntlets softening the blow, Robin kicked forward but Nightwing caught it and pinned the younger teen.

"Nice try but no dice." Nightwing said with a grin that was familiar on his face.

Robin rolled his eyes but had a smile of his own when the man helped him up. "So how did I do?"

"Pretty well, you've certainly came a long way." Nightwing answered truthfully. "I'd say you're at the same level as Tim when he began right now."

Robin felt his grin widen before he blinked. "Wait Tim?" He asked in surprised. "Tim Drake?"

Now it was Nightwing's turn to look surprised. "Wait you haven't figured it out yet?" He would've thought with how smart John was he would know by now.

"No I-," Robin stopped, thinking back to how he met Tim long before the others and how Tim acted a little weird the day he was given the offer after he saw the drawing of the Cave. "You know, now a lot of things suddenly make more sense."

So Tim was the third Robin?

"Why did he stop?" Robin asked curiously.

Nightwing frowned, not sure if he should be the one to tell him or not. "You see Tim in school right?" He asked making Robin nod. "Alright maybe you should let Tim be the one to tell you."

It should be safe considering how Tim's father doesn't know about John having a connection with Batman and Nightwing.

Robin frowned a bit before relenting as there seemed to be a story there.

Besides, he'll see Tim in school the next day.

* * *

It didn't take long to find Tim during Lunch Time as John approached him. "Hey John." Tim greeted looking over his work.

"Tim." John nodded back sitting across from him, taking in the teens build to see that he was extremely fit despite it being half a year since he stopped being Robin, obviously he still did the exercises that Bruce and Dick most likely taught him.

A few seconds passed before Tim paused and gave him a weird look. "You alright?" He asked considering John seemed to be staring.

"Well I just found a few things out," John said with a shrug deciding to get it out of the way. "Although I'm still unsure as to why you stopped being Robin."

He said that last part quietly and now Tim chuckled. "I'm actually surprised it took this long for you to find out."

"I didn't really look into it after finding out who Bruce and Dick were." John replied not using the code names while speaking quietly before he narrowed his eyes. "Do you have anything to do with Bruce giving me the job after you saw the drawing?"

Tim's grin was all the proof he needed, so he asked the only question he had.

"Why?"

Tim's grin fell at the question, speaking low to avoid anyone hearing him. "I became Robin because I felt that Batman needed one to keep him in check after what happened to Jason," He began while John leaned forward to hear better. "I came to love that role but then my Dad found out about it."

John winced at the thought of his Dad finding out while Tim continued, taking note of John's wince.

"He confronted Bruce with a gun and while Bruce disarmed him that proved his theory of who Bruce was," Tim sighed looking distraught. "So I made a deal that I would quit my job if he kept quiet about who Bruce and Dick were."

"That's messed up." John said the pieces now fitting together and he had some sympathy for Tim.

To be trained for that and do it all only for it to be taken away just like that.

"But even if I can't keep that job it still needs to be filled." Tim had a very serious look on his face. "Bruce needs to have a partner in the field, that's why I gave him the okay about you after I realized you saw the base."

John looked at Tim with wide eyes. "I-I don't know what to say."

He truly didn't, here was the third Robin who was forced to retire giving him, someone he knew to be a complete stranger at the time the okay to fill that role?

It's unbelievable.

"Hey just keep Bruce safe out there," Tim told him, leaning back. "He might be teaching you but you'll be helping him as much as he helps you."

"Got it," John promised with him and Tim shaking on it. "So any other tips?"

Tim smirked as he began to share some of his misadventures using fake names for the criminals and avoiding code names so if anyone overheard they wouldn't put it together on what the two were talking about.

* * *

That evening, John made it back to the cave to see Bruce in full gear, just packing his utility belt. "You're late." Batman said not even looking.

"Sorry, traffic was bad," John explained as after the third month he began taking the bus to a certain point in Gotham to walk towards the Manor instead of risking people see Batman pick him up. "So what are we doing today? Hacking training? Gymnastics? Weight-Lifting?"

"Patrol."

John gave a nod before the word actually registered. "Wait, what?"

Batman just looked at him, seeing his shocked look. "Think of it as a field test, how you do tonight will determine what happens next," He said to John who was slowly grinning from ear to ear. "If you don't hurry I'll leave without you."

That snapped John out of his stupor and he ran to where his Robin suit was, with the belt filled up and ready for him.

* * *

"Okay, time for the test." Walter Shriev muttered while inside the R&D Development of Strike Industries.

"Dr. Shriev we shouldn't do this, we haven't been able to go over all the formulas-." A fellow scientist tried to talk the man out of this but Shriev shook his head.

"We can't put it off, tonight is the deadline that Mr. Strike gave us if we don't do this all of our research goes down the drain," Shriev said despite how he agreed with the scientist. "Power up the device."

Across from them in a contained room was a circular device, built like a speaker.

"Ultra-Low Frequency Vibrations are beginning." The Scientist said with the device shaking, showing the target in the area starting to crack.

"Higher." Shriev said, as Benjamin Strike wouldn't be interested in small cracks.

"Increasing Frequency." The Scientist followed the order, the device shaking more as the cracks got bigger.

But the target was still standing making Shriev bite back a curse.

"Dr. Shriev we can't go any higher, this was the highest we can afford to-." The Scientist began but Shriev looked at him.

"It doesn't matter, if we don't deliver we lose it." Shriev said knowing that he couldn't back down unless Strike were to intervene and cursed the man for not listening to his advice on waiting two years. "Increase it more!"

The Scientist hesitated before doing so, knowing how Benjamin was with employees who failed him.

The device was now shaking rapidly with the target being obliterated, causing for Shriev to smile at how it worked.

It really-.

Alarms began to go off with the containment room walls cracking.

Seeing the danger, Shriev shouted. "Shut it down!"

The Scientist was messing with the dial, trying to lower the frequency while pressing a few buttons. "I'm trying, the controls aren't responding!"

"Then shut down the power!" Shriev made to move to the fail safe they had to shut down the power to the whole building but that was when the containment room exploded, the sound device causing instant pain to the ears of the two scientists with the walls cracking around them before the ceiling collapsed, destroying the device while the two were buried by the rubble.

Coughing in pain with blood coming out of his ears, Shriev shakily raised his head to see the other scientist dead from the cave in. "Jeremy!" He called out only to pause.

He knew he said something but he couldn't hear what he said.

Looking up to see the alarm light still going off, Shriev realized what happened due to not hearing the alarm and screamed out as the security team ran in.

 _ **To Be Continued…**_

 _ **Man, this chapter took a bit longer than the first one but I hope everyone enjoys it for what happened. I know it's basically John just training to be Robin which some people could just do a paragraph or two to explain it but I wanted to go into detail with how he trained and who he trained with along with showing him interacting with the other members of the Batfamily.**_

 _ **So now he's had six months of training which put him on the level of when Tim Drake started out after his training. Not only has his combat improved but his awareness along with him putting clues together improved and hacking.**_

 _ **That was the strength of the Photographic Memory I wanted him to have as it would be very easy for him to remember how to do stuff like with the hacking, along with remembering the clues and the katas for fighting, but while he remembers everything, it doesn't extend to his muscle memory which was what he really needed to work at to get it to catch up. Now the story will truly begin when John becomes Red-X which may be Chapter 04 or Chapter 05 so you can expect some time skips until that point.**_

 _ **Also I didn't show Batmam fighting his enemies as this chapter was all about John getting the training he needed.**_

 _ **Oh and sorry if I did Spoiler wrong as this was my very first time typing her along with the others so I typed as I saw her as. Someone who is more light-hearted member of the Batfamily, is headstrong and a bit of a flirt. I might be missing something so I'll have to research her character a bit more.**_

 _ **Finally we have a hint of the first villain that X will face, I'm surprised no one got the hint from the first chapter with his name. I will still be shocked if no one gets it this time.**_

 _ **Now let me answer the Reviews so I can post this.**_

 _ **Dark King Parcel: Thanks, couldn't have gotten it done without you.**_

 _ **DannyPhantom619: Yes and no, I will have to fix that and read the DP/YJ story soon.**_

 _ **Anon: *Whistles* Man you really bring out the realism in the comics don't you? I have to say you gave me quite a bit to think about as well as names to do research on for this story and I can agree with a lot of this, not all but that's my opinion and I rather not get into that. Thank you for bringing a lot of that to my attention and I hoped you enjoyed the story regardless.**_

 _ **Iwymoisiraslom: Well I hope you enjoyed what was showed so far.**_

 _ **Coldblue: I know what you mean, that story was amazing and really set the bars for some stories. John's character was one of the biggest challenges as I didn't want for him to be just like any of the other Robins so while he's more of a fighter like how Jason and Damian are, he's also realistic at points considering how being Robin has the chance of getting him killed, especially after he was stabbed a few weeks before being given the choice, it would've been weird if he wasn't hesitant.**_

 _ **Now for your Questions. 1) I wanted a whole chapter to be shown of him training instead of summarizing it, that way more could be explored, it shows how he begin his friendship with some of the Bat Family during this and how he changed overtime in the chapter itself. 2) When he becomes Red-X he'll be kind of like Batman in away due to some… Issues that will happen, but overtime he would gain his positive outlook back and keep a hold of it. 3) Eventually he might be. 4) You'll see. 5) I'll show that a bit more in the next chapter. 6) I might have that show in future chapters.**_

 _ **Slash17: Thank you and I hope you enjoy this story as much as the Pokemon one.**_

 _ **Nightmaster000: I know what you mean, years later and I still want to know who that son of a bitch is as they made quite the compelling and complicated character. Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter with more to come. As for the pairing? It's a toss up between Cassandra Cain and Rose Wilson, part of the challenge but that doesn't mean there won't be any teases or other relationships before the main pairing.**_

 _ **Bael92: Thanks,writing the others in this story is one of the hardest, even moreso keeping them up and adding some new ones. Hopefully I can keep it up in the future.**_

 _ **Alright, up next is the main Pokemon Story so you'll be seeing Austin/Ash vs Paul soon.**_

 _ **Alright, this is Spidey Signing Out!**_


	3. Chapter 3: Robin Boy Wonder Part 1

_**Chapter 03: Robin Boy Wonder Part 1**_

Robin had a grin on his face when he flipped over a mugger, doing a spin mid-air to kick the back of his head, using the momentum from landing to roll under a swinging pipe from the friends of said mugger.

"Wow, you must stink at baseball." Robin taunted, kicking his legs out from underneath, using his fist to punch his face to knock him out before jumping back from the last two of the four, his fists up in preparation.

It's been a week since he's been allowed to start patrolling with Batman, who was currently in the shadows out of the muggers view to see how the new Robin does against four people at once.

"Shut it brat." The third of the two muggers snarled, just about annoyed with how this teen kept taunting them.

Good, it'll keep them distracted.

"Oh but I thought you loved hearing my voice," Robin said in a mocking tone blocking the punch from the fourth mugger and used the fist to pull himself up and used the guy as a springboard to launch himself at the final guy after giving the previous guy a good kick into the wall, delivering an uppercut in the process to knock him out. "So how did I do?"

Batman walked out of the shadows seeing that Robin had a little sweat showing that four at once was his limit as of now. "You took too long with them due to your banter." He said having a disapproving tone with Robin who looked a little sheepish.

"Well I thought it would keep them unbalanced," Robin rubbed the back of his head before he and Batman both shot their grapple guns to the roof of the building to pull themselves up, it over launched them to where they landed on the roof in a roll and began to run, jumping from rooftop to rooftop to watch out for other criminals. "Besides you can't tell me you haven't had a time where you bantered with some of your enemies."

"Only if I needed to keep them talking," Batman answered gruffly, not agreeing or disagreeing with that sentence. "But you should've been able to take them out quickly."

Robin sighed with a smile. "Yes sir." He said taking heed of his advice.

As fun as it was taunting them, it was better to take them down before something happened.

Both of them stopped at the edge of a building, looking over the streets with Robin still having the grin on his face.

It was great to be doing this, helping people with what he learned. He knows that they don't do this for any sort of thrill or to have fun but it doesn't hurt to enjoy what you do right?

And in the last week, he's been making the news although people were assuming he was the same Robin coming out of hiding with a new look.

"So where to now?" Robin asked hoping to continue the patrol, but his face fell at his mentor's answer.

"Home, it's a school night."

"Right, school the joy of life." Robin said forcing some cheer into his tone but from Batman's small, almost invisible smirk he had a feeling the man saw right through him-.

Batman tensed all of a sudden, confusing Robin until he heard a soft noise behind them, telltale signs of someone landing-.

"Hood." Batman said with almost no emotion in his voice, but Robin has been around long enough to tell that there was a hint of sadness in his voice.

"So it's true," 'Hood' spoke up in the voice of a young man with Robin turning to see someone that was close to Batman's height in a gray shirt and a black motorcycle jacket with a red biker helmet on his face, two guns strapped to his waist. "You have a new Robin."

At first Robin was a bit pleased that someone knew that he wasn't the old Robin before pausing as there was a hint of anger in this Hood's tone.

"Uh hi-." Robin gave a wave only for Batman to give him a glare, making him shut up.

That was the look he usually reserved for criminals.

"Go to Oracles, now." Batman ordered for him due to the Clock Tower being near.

"No let him stay," Hood said mockingly, glaring holes in Batman's cowl. "Does he even know about your knack for picking up replacements when you grow bored?"

' _Replacements?_ ' Robin thought not knowing what was going on while he looked closer at this Hood and finally recognized him.

The Red Hood, an identity that used to be assumed by various criminals in the past before someone took it and used it to take control of several gangs using them as he tried to kill the Joker last year.

Seeing how Robin didn't move, Batman's glare intensified. "Now." He repeated in a harsher tone and this time Robin gave a nod and turned to run.

Hood waited until he saw Robin leave before looking at Batman who turned back to him. "Let me guess, didn't tell your new replacement about me huh?" He asked no emotion in his tone. "I'm hurt."

"Jason it's not like that." Batman said a mixture of feelings with his former ward.

He viewed Jason becoming this as his greatest failure, not that he wasn't relieved that Jason was alive but Batman knew that the anger Jason felt at him was justified.

Both for Joker living and taking Tim on as Robin after his death.

It was also why he never told John that Jason was the Red Hood because in the cave he saw him paying some respects at Jason's memorial, not knowing that Batman saw that.

John was one of the only people who still viewed Jason as a hero.

"Really? Could've fooled me," Red Hood's tone had disbelief all in it now. "From how he fought back there, I'd say it's been six months, wow you didn't even wait long to replace Drake, did you? How long are you going to wait when this one stops? A day?"

"What do you want?" Batman asked not wanting to hear that, knowing that Hood wouldn't be in a listening mood if he even tried explaining what happened.

"Oh just seeing how well you're preparing this replacement for what could happen," Red Hood now crossed his arms at his former mentor. "Or are you just going to lump him with those other two kids you have and make them stay away from your rogues?"

Batman didn't answer that.

"Just as arrogant as I remember." Red Hood turned to leave but Batman's voice stopped him.

"Jason I never tried to replace you and I'm not replacing Tim." Batman took a few steps forward despite how his former apprentice tensed up.

"Right, that's why you have a new Robin," Red Hood sarcastically said glaring at the bat. "Just for sentiment huh?"

What caught Red Hood off-guard was when Batman had a hand out. "You can come back at any time Jason," Batman said knowing that the man wouldn't take it but he would still offer. "Please, let me help."

Red Hood sneered under his helmet. "Help? Right more like keep an eye on me, I know how you think Bruce," He said knocking the offered hand away. "That's all you do."

With that he turned to walk away, not missing how Batman fixed his face to once more hide his emotions.

"All you're going to do is get that kid killed," Red Hood said not stopping. "All three of them."

With that he jumped off the roof and Batman didn't bother going to the edge, knowing that Red Hood didn't endanger himself.

* * *

"You're positive?" Barbara asked while Robin was at the Clock Tower, sitting down in one of the chairs.

"Yeah, he just told me to leave when this Red Hood guy appeared." Robin shook his head, an annoyed look on his face.

It wasn't from the fact that he was told to leave as Batman made it clear that he wasn't to engage with 'costumed' criminals by himself when he began the patrol. The same rule he said applied to Spoiler and Batgirl.

But what this Hood said about him being a 'Replacement' just bothered him.

"There's a lot of history between Batman and Red Hood," Barbara told him, catching Robin's attention. "It can get very personal between them."

"Wait but the Red Hood only appeared about a year or two ago," Robin frowned in confusion, going through his head at the only moment when they met that reached the news. "How is there a lot of history?"

Robin began pacing to think bringing up another point.

"Didn't Batman say it's a bad idea for things to get personal out there."

"Trust me, it's impossible to avoid things getting personal." Barbara said to him and he swore she looked down to her wheelchair while speaking.

"Point." Robin gave that one to her.

He never did get the story with the wheelchair, mostly because he was a bit too hesitant to ask and didn't want to pry into it out of respect for the young woman.

"So where are Batgirl and Spoiler?" Robin tactfully changed the subject to something he hoped was a bit more lighter.

"Spoiler is at home and I managed to convince Batgirl to sleep for the night." Barbara answered him, now looking at the computer to see if anything was up and about around the Clock Tower. "Batman is currently on his way so you might be heading home too."

"Damn school nights," Robin muttered, making Barbara give a small laugh remembering hating the same thing when she was Batgirl. "Hey do Spoiler and Batgirl go to Gotham Academy?"

Robin knew that Barbara knew who he was but he still didn't know who Batgirl and Spoiler were and was pretty sure it was the same for them.

"No they don't," Barbara answered him. "Spoiler goes to a different school altogether and Batgirl is homeschooled."

"Oh," Robin kicked himself for that last part, remembering Batgirl's struggle with reading. "That makes sense."

Truthfully he was curious in just who Batgirl and Spoiler were but he didn't look into them closely due to them being the closest thing he has for friends, it was better if they tell him themselves rather than him going behind their back.

Hearing the roof shift, Robin didn't flinch when Batman land behind him. "So did you get him?" He asked considering how the guy was an enemy from what he knew.

Batman didn't answer him, instead he just walked up to Oracle. "Is Joker still in Arkham?" He asked confusing Robin by what seemed to him to be a random subject change despite it's deeper meaning to everyone else.

Barbara gave a nod, already checked when Robin told her Red Hood was back in town. "Yes, I left an anonymous tip to tighten the security around his cell."

While they spoke, Robin tried to peek at the screen where the camera was on the Clown Prince of Crime, but Batman looked at him, making the teen back off, a sheepish grin on his face.

"Tell me if anything changes Oracle."

* * *

John barely refrained from sighing in boredom while in school the next day.

Hearing the red haired history teacher drone on about something he already memorized was just killing him.

Leaning back while the teacher was speaking, John cupped his chin, thinking back to the Red Hood and how he acted.

Just who was that guy and what did he care if John was the current Robin?

Could he be an old friend of Bruce's? That would explain the sadness he heard in the Dark Knight's tone.

Hearing the bell ring, John grabbed his bag only to stop when he heard his name to see the teacher calling him forward.

"Ooh~ You're in trouble." John heard Franklin tease from behind him causing him to raise a brow in amusement.

Before he barely tolerated Franklin or anyone who acted like that, but now he couldn't help but chuckle, causing for Franklin to look pissed.

"If you say so." John replied walking towards the teacher who waited until everyone was out.

Truthfully he was a little worried because he doesn't know what he could've gotten into trouble for this time due to actually keeping himself clean these last few months.

The teacher just stayed quiet before looking at him. "Is there something wrong?" He asked in a slight british accent, earning a surprised look from John.

"Huh?" John looked surprised by the sudden question. "I'm fine?"

The Teacher gave him a raised brow. "Then how come you haven't been paying attention in class the last few days?"

John blinked.

' _Hang on, I thought I only didn't pay attention today-?_ ' John thought back to it and realized that ever since he began to go out as Robin he has been a bit more distracted and today was the more obvious one. ' _Oh._ '

"Sorry Mr. Richards." John rubbed the back of his head with an apologetic look. "I just had a lot on my mind at the moment."

Richards raised a brow at him, not convinced at all.

"Um can I go?" John asked a bit awkwardly from the analytical gaze of his teacher.

After a few seconds, Richards gave a nod. "Alright, don't want you to be late to your next class." He said while watching the teen leave the room.

* * *

"Please let it be patrol day." John muttered in excitement while walking through the tunnel to the Batcave a few hours later with the sun looking like it was beginning to set. "Please let it be patrol day."

He really loved doing that and since it was a Friday it meant he could stay out a bit longer on patrol.

"Hey Bruce, sorry I'm-." John stopped because there was another figure in the cave alongside Batman, one he only saw on the News.

Standing next to Batman was a tall, muscular man in a blue bodysuit with a red cape, boots and an S emblem on his chest.

" -." John was thrown through a loop at seeing Superman inside of the Cave before his eyes widened.

He just called Batman 'Bruce' within Superman's hearing.

"Please don't tell me I just revealed his identity by mistake." John muttered lowly before realizing that the Man of Steel was inside of the cave, he has to know who Batman was.

Batman however didn't look too annoyed as John feared he would. "I'm going to be gone for a few days." He said surprising the teen. "You'll be going on patrol with Batgirl and Spoiler tonight and Nightwing will be around tomorrow."

"Okay?" John said looking from Batman to Superman and back again. "I'm guessing Justice League stuff?"

"More or less," Superman spoke up with a friendly smile as he held his hand out. "Nice to meet you, Robin I'm guessing?"

"Y-yes, nice to meet you too," John said accepting the handshake before he blurted out. "Can I get your autograph?"

Superman looked a little amused while Batman just gave John a look, making him wish he could sew his mouth shut at times.

"What? I asked for your autograph too when I first met you," John defended himself, remembering the awkward drive in the Batmobile. "Still never got it."

Batman barely hid a sigh at that.

* * *

"You seriously asked for his autograph?" Spoiler sounded very amused while she, Robin and Batgirl were running across the rooftops, tracking a cargo of drugs being smuggled into the city by Black Mask's crew.

Their job was to track them down and put a stop to it but only this particular one.

Batman didn't want to risk Black Mask denying plausibility if they attacked more than one shipment due to how some court cases threw the evidence out the window due to it being brought in by Vigilantes, which was why the info of the rest of them were sent to Commissioner Gordon-who Robin has yet to meet.

"It just came out," Robin tried to defend himself albit weakly. "That was the first time I met another hero besides Batman and you guys, also Superman is one of the world's greatest heroes."

Batgirl came to a stop and made a motion, having them look down to see that the truck was heading inside of a warehouse.

"Okay so ignoring your little man crush on Superman, we need to see how many people are here," Spoiler began, ignoring the face Robin made at what she said. "Do we split up or stick together?"

"Splitting up would cover more ground while sticking together makes an easier target." Robin offered his opinion.

"No." Batgirl said giving him a look already knowing that splitting up would be a bad idea, especially if they get separated in a fight.

Out of the three of them, Robin was still lacking in the experience department when it came to fighting multiple enemies at once.

Batgirl then looked at Spoiler and gestured to her gauntlet. "Hack."

"On it," Spoiler said easily getting into the warehouse cameras considering how Black Mask really needed better software compared to Oracle's. "Alright there are around two dozen people, each of them pretty armed-oh man."

Robin gained a concerned look at how she cut herself off. "What is it?"

"Scarecrow is there."

Now Robin felt some fear because he has yet to face any of the costumed criminals, especially without Batman to be there and Scarecrow was one of the top three most dangerous of them-in Gotham-with his fear toxin. "Why is he there? I thought that Black Mask hated him."

Gunfire began to erupt inside of the warehouse, answering his question.

"Oh great, we stumbled into a gang war," Robin muttered only to give a start when both Spoiler and Batgirl took off towards the warehouse. "H-Hey!"

They came to the skylight of the warehouse to see a few men down already while the two factions were still firing at one another.

"What's the plan?" Robin asked them, seeing Batgirl having some batarangs out.

"You're sticking with me Bird Boy," Spoiler told him knowing that Batgirl would be the most effective against Crane. "We're going to be subduing the crooks."

Robin gave a nod and at an unspoken agreement they burst through the skylight, gaining everyone's attention, landing on the catwalk above them.

Both Batgirl and Spoiler landed ready to fight while Robin nearly stumbled, two birdarangs in his hands.

' _Nearly messed up my first superhero landing._ ' Robin randomly thought taking cover when gunfire erupted on them.

Leaping from the catwalk, Robin used one of the men to soften his fall, going into a roll while Spoiler was right behind him both of them began to get to work on fighting the thugs, Batgirl heading straight to Scarecrow who at this distance looked extremely creepy to Robin.

His own face looked like it was stitched on like an actual scarecrow while he wore a straw hat, with a glove that had needles, filled with the dreaded fear toxin while carrying a scythe in his other hand.

"The brats?" Scarecrow asked an insulted edge to his tone. "Is Batman not taking us seriously?"

Robin couldn't resist this while blocking a pipe with a birdarang, kicking the man holding it in the jewels. "Not when you look like that, seriously man, haven't you ever heard of plastic surgery?"

Scarecrow scowled at him, but he was put on the defensive when Batgirl threw two batarangs, using his scythe to knock them away.

Robin ended up getting back to back with Spoiler who held two escrima sticks in her hands. "You stick fight too?" He asked in surprise ducking a punch and delivering an uppercut while Spoiler slammed the two sticks on both sides of a guy's head, stunning him long enough to kick him back.

"Nightwing and Oracle taught me, they figured I needed something to help with my hits until my strength reaches the appropriate level," Spoiler commented, not even looking when she bashed a guy across the cheek, sending him out cold. "Aren't you learning it?"

"Uh I'm a bit impatient to learn that," Robin answered a bit sheepishly catching a punch, using the momentum to throw the guy into his friends. "I prefer using my fists."

Spoiler gave a hum at that, crossing the sticks in an 'x' fashion to block a hit. "Think you can keep up?" She asked playfully earning a competitive grin from Robin.

With them fighting the thugs, Batgirl was dodging the swipes from Scarecrow claws using her ludicrous fighting skill, knowing that if just one of them hit her she would be in trouble.

"I wonder what you brats fear," Scarecrow mused a bit annoyed at how this one kept dodging them. "It would be a joy to hear your screams-."

Batgirl finally saw her opening and went in, jabbing the man in the shoulder where a pressure point was, rendering the arm holding the scythe useless.

"You insolent little-." Scarecrow was cut off by an uppercut, knocking him to the ground from Batgirl who turned to see that Spoiler and Robin were just finishing with the other men both of them panting, Robin moreso due to never fighting that many at once before.

Seeing that Scarecrow was subdued for the moment, Batgirl went to see just what type of drugs they were trying to smuggle, while Robin rolled his shoulders a bit to relax himself.

"Well that was fun." Robin said his blood still pumping before his eyes widened that behind Spoiler one of the men was groggily getting up and pulling a gun out.

His mind flashing back to when he got stabbed, Robin quickly threw the Birdarang he was holding past a surprised Spoiler, knocking the gun out of his hand, the sound of the metal being hit caught Batgirl's attention when the gun slammed against the floor a gunshot going off, hitting the truck gas-line near Batgirl who quickly jumped back away from it when she heard the gunshot.

Eyes widening the three vigilantes barely had any warning when the truck exploded, the blast knocking them off their feet.

Ears ringing, Robin struggled to push himself up to see Batgirl and Spoiler a bit away on the ground most likely affected by the explosion before he saw Scarecrow pushing himself up showing that Robin was out for a short while.

Shaking his head, Scarecrow saw that Robin was up and gained a smirk, approaching him, his claws actually raking against the wall to show some sparks, most likely to induce fear in the young vigilante.

And it was working.

The man's mouth was moving, but Robin couldn't hear what he was saying due to the ringing until he raised the claws to inject him with the fear toxin.

 _Bang._

A bullet sailed right through the elbow of the arm with the claws, making Scarecrow howl in agony right before Red Hood landed behind the man, saying something when he slammed the end of his gun against the man's temple, knocking him out.

Robin shook his head again, trying to get rid of the ringing and try to get up only for Red Hood to push him down, none too gently.

"Just stay down and try not to die kid," Red Hood said a bit harshly to him now checking on Batgirl and Spoiler, seeing the telltale signs of them breathing through the rise and fall of their chests. "They should wake up in a few moments."

Robin just gave him a suspicious look but relented due to how this guy just saved him.

"You're a dumbass."

That made Robin glare.

"Seriously, you threw a birdarang when you could've just warned Spoiler who was close enough to disarm him before he could fire?" Red Hood berated the teen. "I mean hell you're lucky that the men you three rendered unconscious weren't near the truck otherwise you would've had a bunch of dead gang members here, although that would be a plus in my book."

"I didn't mean to cause an explosion." Robin protested but Red Hood cut him off.

"Doesn't matter if you didn't mean to it happened, man Bruce really picked an idiot this time."

That caught Robin's attention. "W-Who are you?!" He asked shock that this guy, an enemy, knew who Batman really was.

"Figure it out," Red Hood challenged with a smirk hearing a groan coming from Spoiler as well as some sirens. "There's my cue to leave replacement."

With that, Red Hood ran off, the smoke from the flames covering his escape.

Seeing as how he was gone, Robin forced himself up and ran over to check on Spoiler and Batgirl seeing how Spoiler was close to waking up.

Batgirl however was out due to being close to the explosion and might be out for awhile.

"Hey Spoiler," Robin snapped his fingers, successfully rousing her while the sirens were getting closer. "We need to go."

"Sure, as soon as my head stops pounding." Spoiler muttered earning an apologetic laugh from Robin while he ran and went to get Batgirl, so they could get out of there before the police showed up.

* * *

"Well that went south real quick." Spoiler commented the three of them, Batgirl now awake after a few more moments, watching the Gotham Police arresting the men along with Scarecrow being pulled in for treatment and transfer to Arkham.

"Sorry, I didn't think when I did that." Robin said a bit quietly just now realizing how close he came to dying that night and not just him.

If Red Hood wasn't there at that moment, there was a chance that both Spoiler and Batgirl would've been killed by Scarecrow while they were out-or pumped with fear toxin.

He really screwed up big time.

"Hey it's not that bad, sure we could've gone without the explosion but Scarecrow is down and those drugs are burnt to a crisp," Spoiler said giving a chuckle. "Plus the three of us are alive and we actually took on a costumed criminal."

"Did good." Batgirl looked at him. "Just more caution."

"Right." Robin said looking back towards the practically destroyed warehouse.

He didn't say anything about Red Hood being there, mostly because of what the man said.

' _Bruce really picked an idiot this time._ '

' _There's my cue to leave replacement._ '

If Red Hood knew who Batman was, did he know who they were? Robin wasn't too sure about that or why the guy kept calling him 'Replacement' but one thing was for sure.

For better or worse, he was going to find out who the Red Hood was.

"We leave." Batgirl said quickly earning nods from the other two as she went on ahead, towards Oracles with Spoiler behind her.

Robin went to follow when Spoiler said something. "Hey thanks, I didn't realize the guy was still conscious." She said slowing down enough for Robin to keep up.

"I wouldn't really say conscious, more like trying to keep awake," Robin commented jokingly with a grin. "You would've done the same for me."

' _Although you wouldn't have caused the explosion._ ' Robin kept those thoughts to himself.

* * *

John groaned when he woke up the next morning feeling very sore with his head pounding.

He didn't get home until late that night due to how Oracle asked what happened down there to where he was given a little of a lecture in what he could've done after giving him some medical attention-lord knows what Bruce will do whenever he gets back from the mission with the Justice League and hears about this.

And when he got home that night, John just jumped into the shower to get rid of the smoky smell-nearly crying out in pain because of the small burns he got on his back from the explosion, even if they were treated while he was at Oracle's.

Thankfully it was the weekend now so he didn't have to worry about going to school with the burns on his back.

Exiting his room, John saw that once more his Dad left for work leaving him home alone yet again.

' _Well I have until tonight to rest-unless Oracle makes sure I stay home after the mess last night._ ' John thought with a smirk as the Robin uniform was still in his bedroom, in his backpack for him to wear that night.

So John got a bowl of cereal and turned his laptop on to look into the sightings of the Red Hood.

"So this is what you do on your days off?" John jumped, his knee slamming into the table he was at, causing for him to fall over while Dick Grayson was in the room, leaning against the wall.

"Damnit, I hate it when you do that!" John shouted annoyed at the fact that the only people who could still sneak up on him were Bruce, Dick and Batgirl.

Dick's smile turned into a serious look when he saw exactly what John was looking at. "Any reason you're looking into the Red Hood?" He asked cautiously.

John went quiet, mostly to reclaim his wits and sit back in his chair. "He knows who Bruce is." John said a frown on his face.

"And?" Dick asked earning a shocked look from John.

"Wait, was I the only one to not know that?"

"It's complicated, but yes Hood knows who we are-not so sure about you yet and we know who he is." Dick said easing a few of John's worries.

John gave a nod, closing out the browser already knowing that he wouldn't get Dick to tell him who the Hood was. "So what brings you here?"

"Oracle told me what happened last night, I figured I could at least check up on you," Dick answered him, sitting across from him. "Explosion aside nice job working with Spoiler and Batgirl to take down Crane."

"Heh yeah," John had a grin on his face that fell. "... Bruce is going to be pissed when he hears about this isn't he?"

Dick laughed at the slight fear on John's face. "Oh big time."

"Great."

"So you usually home alone?" Dick asked casually, his eyes scanning everything around them.

"Yeah, Dad is pretty busy with Strike Industries," John said not really paying Dick much mind while eating his cereal. "It actually helps when I have to sneak out for patrol."

Dick gave a nod. "I talked with Oracle and she said that tonight you and the others will be working on your hacking skills," He explained not missing how John looked a little disappointed. "It's only for tonight, tomorrow how about you and I go on patrol while Bruce is gone?"

John perked up at that. "Deal."

* * *

Dick left a bit after checking up on him and now John was by himself, walking around Gotham making sure to hide his backpack in his room just in case his Dad got home early-the story of how Tim's father found out fresh in his mind.

Currently he was looking for something to do that wouldn't either get him in trouble or have him be Robin, just some 'me-time' as John Strike.

' _Oh God, did I really just refer to myself in third person?_ ' John gave a small laugh.

He came to a stop at seeing a small store across the street called 'Rags and Tatters' curiously enough.

Thinking it wouldn't hurt to check it out, John entered the store to see it devoid of any shoppers with a young man who looked to be eighteen with short brown hair and blue eyes placing several items on different shelves.

"Welcome to Rags and Tatters." The young man said glancing at John curiously. "You here to buy or sell?"

"Actually I've never been in here so I didn't know what to expect," John answered honestly scratching the side of his cheek. "I'm John."

The young man gave a chuckle. "Rory," He returned while making sure that the stuff he had stayed on the shelves. "You a local or a tourist?"

"Lived in Gotham my whole life, you?"

"Same, Dad settled in here after a few years in New York." Rory explained to John who gave a nod. "Opened this shop up years ago and now I own it."

"That sounds pretty cool." John said a bit surprised but it was nice to see someone else who grew up in Gotham that didn't resort to crime.

Rory grinned while John was looking through what this guy might have before settling in on the books.

"Lord of the Rings?" John looked surprised as it was a pretty old edition of the trilogy, something that was pretty hard to find these days. "I'm amazed the pages still keep together."

"It depends on the person who owns it," Rory inputted. "You looking to buy it?"

"Sure, how much?"

"They're a vintage set but given how it's a little beat up, $150?" Rory asked earning a nod from John.

Given how old this version was it was a fair price.

Plus reading this would give him something to do.

"Do you take card or cash?"

A few moments later, John left the store with the books in a bag, a grin on his face.

Rory seemed like a pretty cool guy.

* * *

That night, Robin was at Oracle's giving a frown at the hack.

It seemed to be mocking him from his lack of getting into it.

Looking up from the hack, Robin saw Batgirl slowly writing a few simple words, slowly saying them while doing so and Spoiler looked to be listening to music while working on her own hacks.

While looking at them, Robin had a smile make its way across his face.

Despite the incident last night, he was happy that he was given the option of becoming a vigilante.

Before he became Robin, John didn't know what to do with his life and right now he had a feeling that he probably would've ended up being expelled from Gotham Academy because of his knack of getting into fights and most likely kicked out by his father if that happened.

Plus every time he put on the costume so far he truly felt like a different person then when he started out.

A beeping brought Robin back to his senses as he saw that the hack locked him out because he was taking too long. "Great."

"Don't feel too bad, not a lot of people can get this." Oracle commented from her computer, most likely helping Nightwing keep a watch over Gotham. "You want me to set up another one for you?"

"Nah I think I had enough for tonight." Robin answered with a sigh considering that was his third attempt.

True he knows that it was a little impressive he even got this far into hacking already but Robin had a feeling that if he didn't have a photographic memory he wouldn't have made it this far with the training-hell he wouldn't have gotten any training period now that he thinks about it.

Oracle gave a nod while Spoiler groaned her program kicking her out as well. "Damn it."

"Now I feel better." Robin quipped giving a small laugh, more so when Spoiler glared light-heartedly at him.

Looking up from her work, Batgirl placed her pencil down and stood up looking ready for a spar after seeing that they weren't doing anymore hacking.

"Not it." Spoiler quickly said still a bit sore from the explosion.

Robin was right behind her but acted too slow. "Not i-damnit."

* * *

The next night, Robin had a quirked brow while he and Nightwing were on a fire escape above someone who just seemed to be standing there with what looked to be a rabbit mask over their face. "Should we be worried?" He asked the Bludhaven Vigilante.

"I'll have to get back to you on that one." Nightwing answered casually dropping down with a frown, obviously recognizing what was going on.

Taking the mask off, the person under it crumpled to the ground in a heap.

There was a bit of a radio inside of the mask that sparked to life. " _ **Oh frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!**_ " A voice said in a mocking tone. " _ **The Batman's here, it's time to play.**_ "

"Tetch," Nightwing commented much to Robin's surprise. "Guess he doesn't have any surveillance right now so he thinks were the big guy."

"The Hatter?" Robin joined Nightwing, checking to see if the person was alright and relieved to find that they were only unconscious and not dead.

Now this was a surprise as the Mad Hatter has been laying low for the last few months having Bruce on edge, the same being with Firefly and Freeze.

It looked like he was finally coming back to the surface.

" _ **Found the rabbit you have, now you need to find dear Alice.**_ " Hatter gave a chuckle.

"We'll have to hurry if he really has an Alice" Nightwing stated making Robin frown.

'Alice' being the codeword for hostage in Hatter's terms and while the criminal hasn't really been convicted of it, Robin couldn't help but feel the man had a 'rapish' vibe to him.

He kidnapped women and dressed them up for crying out loud.

"One problem, we don't know where they are." Robin shook his head before Nightwing grinned and grabbed the radio.

"Where are they tetch?" Nightwing asked, actually sounding like Batman-surprising Robin as he didn't know he could do that.

" _ **Oh Batman you'll find them, just have some fun,**_ " Hatter laughed at him. " _ **Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock, the time draws near on the clock.**_ "

Hearing the radio go dead, Nightwing dropped it and turned on the com-link for both him and Robin. "Oracle, Hatter resurfaced and has a hostage, did you trace the link while we spoke?"

" _ **Already did it,**_ " Oracle responded much to their relief. " _ **I have a signal, the one that Hatter spoke from is on the move-most likely one of the subway trains.**_ "

"How close?"

" _ **It'll be passing your area in ten minutes and I notified the Police about this, they're sending paramedics now.**_ "

Nightwing gave a nod and looked at Robin. "Watch this guy until the Ambulance arrives, I'll handle Hatter."

"You sure?" Robin asked a bit cautiously, because the Hatter was a rogue for a reason.

"I'll be fine." Nightwing promised with a grin pulling his grapple out. "I'll hurry back so we can continue the patrol."

With that said he was off.

Once Nightwing was out of sight, Robin sighed and hid in the shadows on the fire escape to watch the man, a bit annoyed at the fact that he wasn't going to help bring in the Hatter, but Nightwing had a point.

They couldn't just leave this guy alone in a Gotham alley unconscious at night after he was mind controlled by the Hatter and the Hospital was too far away for Robin to take the guy to on foot-he didn't have any sort of vehicle or the gadgets to help carry the guy.

And they were also on a time-limit for the hostage with Nightwing having to get to a certain point to get on that train so there was no time to make a different plan or get this guy to the hospital first and then take the Hatter together.

Although Robin briefly wondered if his little screw up at the warehouse had anything to do with Nightwing having him stay there?

' _Man if only Spoiler and Batgirl joined the patrol but Oracle sent them to the Diamond District to check something out._ ' Robin felt a little bored.

He briefly entertained the idea of talking to Oracle but figured she could be doing something important to help Nightwing-.

Robin froze when he felt something cold press against the back of his neck. "Bang, you're dead." A familiar voice spoke up.

"Red Hood." Robin greeted warily before the gun was removed.

"Your awareness sucks." Red Hood commented rolling his eyes underneath his helmet.

"Damnit now that's four people." Robin muttered under his breath before fixing a glare at the guy. "What are you doing here?"

Red Hood just gave a snort at the question. "I should be asking you that considering this is my area." Not wanting to say anything about the drug dealers he just killed a few buildings away.

Hood didn't feel like having the Bat on him that night.

Robin kept quiet before smirking. "That's classified."

"Really?" Red Hood deadpanned looking from him to the unconscious man in the alley, seeing the rabbit mask. "Let me guess Batman has you on babysitting duty while he takes down Tetch?"

Robin twitched. "No," He said earning a look of disbelief. "... Nightwing is."

"Golden Boy is back in town?" Red Hood asked in surprise, not expecting that.

"Golden Boy?"

"Nothing," Red Hood waved the question away. "I take it that means Bruce is out of town?"

Robin said nothing to confirm or deny that.

He still found it annoying that this guy knew who Bruce was and no one would tell him who this guy even was.

But on that thought, Robin frowned as another question he wanted to know went through his mind. "Why did you help with Scarecrow?" He asked the question surprising Red Hood. "I mean you obviously don't like me and have some history with Batman."

"I hate Scarecrow more, do I really need a reason?"

"No I suppose not." Robin looked from him to the unconscious man seeing the paramedics arrive. "Well no more babysitting at least-."

Robin turned only to see that Red Hood pulled the same disappearing trick that Batman, Nightwing and Batgirl liked to pull making him frown in annoyance.

"I really need to get Batman to teach me how to do that."

* * *

John was back in his room that night, a frown on his face.

He didn't tell anyone about meeting Red Hood again, mostly because the man didn't really do anything bad, just talk to him.

' _Oh well at least Nightwing got Hatter locked away._ ' John thought with a smile.

That was two rogues back in Arkham this week and he had a hand in one of them-well Batgirl did with Scarecrow more than him but it was pretty impressive for his first week.

Giving a yawn, John turned to his side to fall asleep, wondering what the next day would bring.

* * *

Walter Shriev was burning a hole in the ceiling with his glare while he was in the hospital, still not being able to hear anything to where he had to attempt to learn sign language just to speak with someone, his arm and one of his legs suspended in casts.

That wasn't what bothered him-okay maybe a little but he can overcome that with time.

It was what happened along with his deafness.

' _Strike._ ' Shriev thought venomously, anger burning on his face.

That bastard had the gall to fire him and blame the whole incident that cost the life of Shriev's friend on him?! After he was the one who forced Shriev to build what caused it?

And he didn't even show up to tell it to his face, he did it with a letter along with a court case to sue him!

Because of this he lost not only his job but the chance to ever be hired as a scientist elsewhere.

' _You made a grave mistake Benjamin._ ' Shriev thought shifting a bit, ignoring the slight pain he felt. ' _You just ruined my life. Enjoy yourself while you can because when I get out of here I will make it my mission to destroy everything you built. Your company. Your Fortune. Even your life._ '

 _ **To Be Continued…**_

 _ **Man this took awhile to type, sorry for the wait I had a lot going on for the last two months. Had to drive back and forth to visit family due to problems-just happy that after the move it's no longer a thirteen hour drive-and I've been focusing more on the book I want to publish by deleting some stuff, adding to it, changing a lot-have about sixty-nearly seventy pages on that one so far.**_

 _ **And I'm sorry that I didn't update the Pokemon Story, I'm having a bit of trouble typing the battle because I have a habit of trying to make the battle a lot better than the one before and I'm kind of at a loss on who to have win this one-enough to where I'm debating on flipping a coin to settle it. Reason being is that Paul is one of Ash's best rivals for a damn good reason and he did beat AJ in this series while Austin didn't-though he came close. So it might take a bit longer to get that typed.**_

 _ **Anyways now onto this chapter, it moves a bit fast but I hope you enjoyed how John was in his second week of being Robin, he's definitely a lot better in a fight then he was in the beginning of this story but still learning due to lack of experience in the field along with up to four people being able to sneak up on him at this point.**_

 _ **Then there's the scene with him causing the explosion, that shows his lack of experience right there as well as shows how one change to a dynamic can affect a whole group-like how Spoiler and Batgirl were caught up with it when it wouldn't have happened by themselves.**_

 _ **Plus we had him meet Superman, embarrassing himself in the process, and introduced another DC hero-or at least his civilian identity, I'll be amazed if no one recognized who it was. Also showed another person who would become an enemy of Red-X in the future and finally we had John interact with Jason Todd.**_

 _ **I figured Jason wouldn't be too sour at John as he would be with Tim because John never replaced him after he died so his issue was only with Batman. Plus I figured he would find it fun to mess with the new Robin a bit with some mind games-nothing too harmful but enough to annoy him.**_

 _ **Alright, now let's answer some reviews.**_

 _ **Kival737101: Either Ravager or Batgirl/Black Bat but there will be a lot of ship tease moments with various others overtime.**_

 _ **Dark King Marcel: Thanks and again sorry for the wait.**_

 _ **Coldblue: Heh thanks, it's nice to see that I'm still improving over time, just hope this one followed that instead of looking like a bunch of random scene changes. Yeah, I felt it would be better to show his training and how he changes through the course of it rather than 'bam' he's a badass. And no I'm not trying to make him an overpowered Robin because he's still only learning and everyone else has a lot more experience than he does, overtime he will be on a level of his own but that's when he really becomes Red-X, it was fun to type the interaction between John and the rest of the Bat Family too. A continuous love-triangle? Not so sure about that because despite my stories I'm still lacking in the experience of typing romance scenes but I'll try to do that.**_

 _ **Now for your Questions. 1) Not at first, you'll see what I mean later. 2) Huh, that would be interesting but maybe a bit later in the story. 3) As Red-X and it won't be a friendly meeting at first. 4) Eventually yes. 5) Neither-well a bit of the second one but for a completely different reason. 6) Maybe, but I don't think he will and that's if he does take control of the company.**_

 _ **Iwymoisiraslom: Thanks, it was fun to type that and I'm glad you like the choices for the pairing. John will be Robin for two more chapters-a lot of time will pass in them-before he becomes Red-X. I will try to do both my own thing and a combination of stuff from the comics.**_

 _ **Anon: That's true, although never letting Bruce forget it shows that he didn't do it because it needed to be done, but rather he did it to one-up Bruce.**_

 _ **Nightmaster000: Thanks and I hope you enjoyed how he interacted with Jason in this chapter. And no Ravager isn't one of the good guys, yet. Uh I haven't even heard of Loud House so I can't help there sorry.**_

 _ **Bael92: No the first review posted, the website had some problems when you did that though so both of them are up here. Heh I'm glad you recognized who the first villain for John is and I'll try to add more DC characters overtime-hope you liked the cameos of two heroes-one of them Superman and the other one you'll have to look for in the chapter.**_

 _ **Slash17: Well I hope you liked this chapter-he didn't kick as much ass as many people would like but it shows how much he has left to learn, next chapter he will be kicking a lot of ass though.**_

 _ **Guest1: Thank you, hope this didn't disappoint you.**_

 _ **Guest2: I'm sorry but that story is on hiatus until I can actually get inspiration on that one.**_

 _ **Alright, this is Spidey Signing Out, hopefully the next one won't take as long.**_


	4. Chapter 4: Robin Boy Wonder Part 2

_**Chapter 04: Robin Boy Wonder Part 2**_

Inside of an abandoned building, a group of people were looking over a cache of stolen weapons. They've been stockpiling them for weeks for a coup against those in control of Gotham.

"Make sure to plant the charges in the GCPD, the News Station and the Diamond District." A young man wearing a red jacket that had an A emblem on the back with a white mask covering his face ordered to some of the men, all of them wearing the same mask. "They had their chances to fix this city and wasted them, now it's time to fight b-."

Windows crashing made everyone spin around, guns aimed to see Batman standing in the room along with Robin and Batgirl.

"It's over Machin." Batman stated to the young man who has been behind a bombing earlier that week.

"It's Anarky!" Lonnie Machin snarled at the Dark Knight. "Waste them!"

The six of them pulled the triggers, only to be confused when the guns seemed to be jammed.

"Wow, it actually worked." Robin stated in surprise.

Before they crashed through the window, Batman gave both him and Batgirl a gadget that someone named Lucius built for the group of Vigilantes, something that was called a Disruptor.

Although given it was a prototype, a single one could only jam two guns before it has to charge, so given how they each had one they used it to jam the six guns that would be aimed at them.

Batman made the first move during the confusion by launching a grapple at one of the men, pulling them forward to slam a fist into his face, knocking him out.

A second man went to use the gun as a bat, but Batgirl easily disarmed him and used the gun to break his arm before knocking him back with a palm strike to the chest, sending him into his friends.

Anarky saw that his men were now in a panic and went to go for the crate where the other guns were only for Robin to land on the crate with a cocky smirk. "Don't you know it's rude to leave your guests?" He taunted earning a glare from Anarky.

Over the last five months, this new Robin has made quite the reputation of being a talkative and annoying brat.

Reaching in his jacket, Anarky pulled a shock baton out to swing at Robin who easily jumped over it.

"Really, an electric stick?" Robin gave a mocking laugh ducking when Anarky spun around to try to slam it into the teen. "Dude, I spar with Nightwing sometimes and he uses two, you have no chance here."

Having enough, Robin grabbed the arm on the next swing and twisted it to where the shock baton smacked Anarky in the mask making the man stumble as he was electrocuted, the shock ending when Batman grabbed him and slammed the criminal face first into the wall, knocking him out.

Once Anarky was down and Batgirl finished taking out the last few men, Batman turned a glare at Robin. "What were you doing?"

Robin hid a wince. "Sorry I thought him getting to the crate would be a bad idea." He said due to how Batman clearly stated that he would handle Lonnie-or Anarky as he's calling himself now considering the man despite rarely being in the open was a costumed criminal.

But even if that was true there was still the matter of him going against the plan they made for themselves.

Groaning could be heard from one of the men who was underneath the guy that Batgirl threw, catching Batman's attention, but he gave Robin a look saying that they weren't finished with this discussion.

The guy gave a startled yelp when Batman grabbed him by the back of his shirt, easily pulling him out from underneath his friend, slamming him into the wall, rather harshly as some dust fell from the roof. "Where is the other bomb?" Batman asked calmly, his tone showing that he wasn't interested in playing any games. "Talk before I break every bone in your body."

"You should really listen," Robin commented, leaning on the wall with a smirk. "Bats here is really ticked tonight, so he won't have any patience for lies."

The guy looked like he was beginning to sweat from the three vigilantes looking at him before he folded. "It's already on its way to Arkham Asylum," He cried out while trying to keep a brave face. "It's high time we got rid of those freaks."

Batman narrowed his eyes before knocking the man out, looking at Batgirl. "Stay here and make sure they don't go anywhere." He ordered her while walking to the window. "Robin head back to the Cave."

Robin gave a start. "What? But I can help-."

"This isn't up for debate." Batman didn't let him finish before he jumped out the broken window.

* * *

It was an hour later before Batman was back at the Batcave after stopping the bomb delivery to Arkham his cowl now off. "You disobeyed a direct order." Bruce said with John looking away with how Bruce was focused on that.

"I stopped him from opening the weapons cache to shoot the guns that weren't disabled at us-something I figured would be bad for our health," John defended himself to his mentor. "I was the closest one to it so I acted."

"And what about Machin?" Bruce asked glaring at John.

"Bruce, why are you looking at me like I killed the guy?" John asked now agitated from this discussion. "He's only knocked out."

Bruce's frown was even more noticeable when he pressed a button and a hologram showing Machin in the hospital with the mask melted to his face, shocking John. "That stun baton was overcharged with enough volts to kill a person, if I didn't interfere he would've died," He said harshly, making sure John got the implications. "You almost killed him or he could've killed you if that actually hit you."

"I-I didn't realize-." John didn't even finish when he went quiet.

"That's why you need to be careful," Bruce told him, wanting to be sure that this message hit home with his latest protege. "One small mistake could cost you your life."

A slight cough caused the two to look and see Alfred who was carrying a tray of refreshments for the duo. "If I may interrupt, Commissioner Gordon activated the Bat Signal." He said feeling that it was as good time to intervene before any of them said something they couldn't take back from how heated this was getting.

Bruce gave a nod. "We'll continue this later." He said reaching back to pull the cowl back on, getting into the Batmobile.

John just watched as he drove off before Alfred held out a cup of cocoa for him to accept. "Don't take it personally Master Jonathan, Master Bruce worries for you out there," Alfred said with the Batmobile driving out of the Cave. "Masters Richards, Jason and Timothy were all in your shoes before."

"I-... I get that," John said with a sigh. "I just wish I can help without screwing up."

The incident with Scarecrow was still fresh on his mind along with this new one.

"Master Bruce thought the same way when he began his cape and cowl adventures," Alfred commented surprising John. "Back when he was still new to this he was desperate to help Gotham, but even he made mistakes along the way as both Batman and Bruce Wayne, we all do. It's how we learn."

John kept quiet at hearing that, thinking it over.

"Now do drink that before it get's too cold." Alfred said earning a snort from John as the elderly man went to walk off.

"Alfred," The elderly man stopped and turned with John giving him a smile. "Thanks."

Alfred returned his smile. "It's my pleasure Master Jonathan."

* * *

John was back in his bedroom a few days later, looking through a personal file he made on his laptop-making sure that it was encrypted-although he figured that Bruce and the others wouldn't hack his laptop unless necessary he didn't want to risk it.

The reason being was that he was doing his own investigation of the Red Hood-knowing that if Bruce found out he would be livid.

Which was why he's been taking his time for this one as hiding a secret from Batman was something that practically no one can do, so he knew it was only a matter of time before he found out.

Although the fact that he's kept it hidden for six months does say something.

Since he was practically cut off from the Batcomputer or Oracle's files in the Red Hood he had to create his own by starting from what he knew and add to it from there.

The man hated the Joker with a passion-something that John understood considering the number of graves the man has filled as well as finding an old article online that the psychotic clown was the one who put Oracle in the wheelchair making him want to beat the crap out of the psycho himself with extreme prejudice.

Looking over the past crimes made John want to vomit as he couldn't believe the man hasn't been sentenced to death because of the Insanity Plea, but he forced himself to look more into the Red Hood-finding out that Joker used to call himself that showing that Hood wanted to steal something of his.

So thinking he was a past victim who lost a loved one to the clown, John spent the last six months going through every victim file he could find-just stuff from old newspapers that were online.

He hasn't even been through a third of them and none of it made any sense.

"I'm missing something," John muttered rubbing his hair in frustration. "There has to be something that I'm overlooking."

This was really beginning to drive him mad as he could just hear the Red Hood taunting him for not figuring it out.

John finally logged out of an article he was on and thought back to what Dick said about Batman knowing who Red Hood was.

It just didn't make any sense, why would Bruce not arrest someone who was a killer-even if it was of criminals?

And the way he fought was very familiar like a-.

A sudden thought came to John that made him sit up.

' _He fought like a bat._ ' John thought bringing up an article of the second Robin while Red Hood's words went through his mind.

' _Does he even know about your knack for picking up replacements when you grow bored?_ '

' _Bruce really picked an idiot this time._ '

' _Golden Boy is back in town?_ '

Then Barbara's words went through his head.

' _There's a lot of history between Batman and Red Hood, it can get very personal between them._ '

"It can't be, Jason Todd died." John muttered, but doubt was in his tone.

After all Superman was killed three years ago when that Doomsday monster attacked the League and yet John himself shook his hand a few months ago. Green Arrow even died at one point and from the files that Bruce let him read he was back alive.

So was it possible for Jason Todd to be the Red Hood?

And if he was that would actually explain a lot of the confusion he was feeling-.

John stopped when he heard the door to the apartment open and his father yelling at someone making him wince before he turned his laptop off.

Something must've pissed him off.

* * *

John now as Robin ducked a punch from Spoiler, using his elbow to do a quick jab to her stomach to get some breathing room but he ended up earning a kick to the side making him back up as well.

Barbara was busy looking into something for Bruce who was currently on the Watchtower for something called Monitor Duty while Batgirl went to Bludhaven to help Nightwing with something-some weirdo calling himself Crazy Quilt or something like that.

Truthfully that name sounds almost as bad as the Ten-Eyed Man, Kite Man or the Polka Dot Man.

Seriously, what were with some of these villains? They've been around since the early days of Batman and he has never even heard of them until he became Robin.

So while that was going on, Robin and Spoiler figured they could spar to pass the time as there were no hacking lessons at the time.

Reaching up to grab a foot that Spoiler went to kick him with, Robin pushed upward, making Spoiler do a back flip before she brought out her batons that he had to duck.

She wasn't going easy on him anymore it seems.

A grin passed on Robin's face with excitement coursing through him.

This really showed how far he came if Spoiler wasn't pulling any punches anymore.

Using his gauntlets-that have been reinforced as of late to block sword strikes, Robin blocked and parried each baton strike before taking a Birdarang out to block another and kicked upward, catching Spoiler in the chest.

Already in movement as Spoiler was knocked down, Robin jumped on her and pinned her arms down to avoid getting punched, both of them panting from the fight.

He did it.

He actually beat Spoiler in a spar-probably a fluke but he was taking it-.

"So you going to get off me anytime soon?" Spoiler asked in a teasing tone while Robin blinked coming out of his thoughts before he realized it looked like he was straddling her. "A bit forward aren't you?"

In an instant Robin quickly got off. "Sorry, just a little surprised about the outcome to be honest." Robin said pulling his hood up to hide his red face, although he was pretty sure Spoiler already saw it as she easily pushed herself up.

"Are you blushing?" Spoiler asked sounding amused.

"No." Robin said a bit too quickly.

Spoiler gave a soft chuckle but didn't tease too much, instead she grabbed one of the bottles of water they had nearby while tossing the other to Robin who caught it without looking.

Huh to think that a year ago that might've smacked him in the face or he would stumble trying to catch it.

Taking a sip of his water, Robin went to say something only to choke.

Spoiler had her mask off to show she had blonde hair and blue eyes.

Seeing his face, Spoiler raised a brow. "Something wrong Bird Boy?"

"Y-You're mask." Robin got out earning a smirk.

"You do realize you're making this too easy right?"

"No it's just-why did you take it off?" Robin asked in surprise.

Spoiler hasn't done anything like that before.

"So I can drink some water," Spoiler said trying not to laugh. "Besides, I trained alongside you for nearly a year. Batgirl and I already know who each other is under the mask, it wouldn't have felt right."

With that, Spoiler placed the water down and held out her hand.

"Stephanie Brown."

Robin hesitated at this.

The fact that Spoiler-no Stephanie just revealed who she was put him in a tight spot as he would be a jackass to not return the favor but he hasn't received the A-Okay from Bruce to do so-.

' _But Dick, Tim and Barbara already know who I am._ ' Robin thought before taking his mask off with a smile of his own. ' _Besides there's no real connection between Bruce and I so it's not revealing his identity._ '

"Jonathan Strike."

"Nice to meet the real you." Stephanie joked with them shaking hands.

* * *

Two hours later, John was walking through Gotham with a sigh.

After he and Stephanie exchanged identities they talked for a bit before he left saying his Dad was expecting him home.

But that was a lie.

Coming to an old rundown apartment building that was still in business, John walked in, sneaking past the front desk where a chubby man smelling of cigars was reading a magazine before walking up the stairs.

All of his research and detective work-if he's right-lead him here.

On the eighth floor, John came to a stop at Apartment number 816 and knocked.

He could hear footsteps on the other side before the door opened with a chain keeping it locked to show a young nineteen year old teen with black hair-a white stripe on the front and blue eyes that widened in disbelief when he saw him showing that he knew exactly who John was.

John looked at him. "Hello Jason." He said greeting the former Robin and current Red Hood.

The door immediately closed where the chain was took off before it opened and Jason Todd pulled John in there looking around to make sure no one followed him before choke slamming him against the wall after closing the door.

"The hell are you doing here?!"

"Mostly to confirm that it was you." John got out as Jason had a tight grip before he let go leaving for John to straighten his jacket. "Bruce doesn't know I'm here."

Jason just gave him a look. "What do you want?"

"Well it originally was taking your challenge of finding out who you were," John began reminding Jason of that. "Which wasn't easy let me tell you that much."

"What do you want, for me to tell you good job?" Jason asked a bit snidely.

"No, I-." John shook his head. "What happened?"

That surprised Jason. "What?"

"I only figured out you were the Red Hood and who you are but not the why and it doesn't make any sense," John said looking at him. "And I know Bruce or the others won't tell me and trying to access the Batcomputer would tip them off that I was looking into it-."

"Wait you did this all without tipping Bruce off?" Jason had a smirk imagining the pissed off face Bruce would have when he found out about this.

John just looked at Jason who looked away.

"It's none of your damn business anyways," Jason replied heading into his kitchen to grab a beer from the fridge. "Want one?"

"I'm underage." John deadpanned earning a shrug from Jason.

"So am I but you don't see me giving a fuck," Jason sat down at the table when John saw a few guns out-looking like they were being cleaned. "You want some advice while you're here?"

That made John raise a brow in confusion before he cautiously nodded.

"Stop being Robin," Jason said bluntly making John gape at him. "Trust me you'll only get hurt in the end."

"Why would I stop being Robin?" John asked in a loud tone earning a look from Jason making him quiet down.

"John right?" Jason asked earning a nod. "Listen you're the fourth Robin and you should know from the last three that it won't stay that way, and it won't be long before he replaces you. He always does."

John went to tell him that wasn't true but Jason wasn't finished.

"He replaced Golden Boy with me and then he did the same thing to me by bringing Drake into the fold followed by you," Jason looked at John taking a sip of his beer. "Trust me it won't be long before he does that to you."

"H-He won't." John muttered looking away, some doubt creeping in when he heard that.

Doubt that Jason heard.

"Oh come on you can't seriously be that naive can you?" Jason scoffed at him. "It's only a matter of time."

He then jabbed a thumb towards the door.

"Now get out."

* * *

John laid on his bed that night thinking about what Jason said before shaking his head.

' _No, there's no way that will happen._ ' John told himself trying to believe it. ' _I mean I know I won't be Robin forever but Bruce wouldn't just replace me like that… Right?_ '

Realizing he was thinking like an insecure little kid, John sat up and looked at his backpack where his Robin suit was.

Minutes later he was out in Gotham doing a solo patrol, something that Bruce hasn't let him do before but he needed a way to keep his mind off of what Jason said.

Landing on the edge of a rooftop, Robin jumped off of the roof to get to the next one over, rolling to add to the momentum as he ran through Gotham.

' _I wonder if the other Robins ever patrolled by themselves before?_ ' Robin thought jumping before shooting his grapple gun to swing across the street.

Hearing a cry for help, Robin looked down to see someone being surrounded by thugs. "Hero time," Robin joked jumping down there, using one of the thugs as a landing pad before jumping off of him, doing a flip, spinning to kick two more down, landing on his feet. "And he sticks the landing."

He really should thank Nightwing for showing him that move.

Tensing at the words 'Get him', Robin blocked a punch, pulling himself forward to slam an elbow into the man's face, breaking his nose before leaning his head back to duck a swinging pipe.

He then spun to dodge a knife that would've been lodged into his shoulder, grabbing the wrist-breaking it in the process, flinging the man into his friends with a cocky smirk that was pissing the thugs off while the person who screamed ran off in the middle of the fight.

This was great.

"Come on at least try." Robin taunted the thugs further make them angry and sloppy-.

A loud noise was heard as something skidded across the street, catching the attention of Robin and the other thugs when they saw what looked to be a twelve year old kid that came out of nowhere.

The kid was dressed in a suit that was red in the middle with white on the arms lightning bolts between the two colors and goggles with long red hair tied in pigtails.

"How's that Da-?" The girl stopped when she saw that she was in an unfamiliar location. "I made a wrong turn didn't I?"

Robin blinked recognizing her from the news.

Wasn't that the new Impulse? The original taking the mantle of Kid Flash on joining the New Teen Titans-?

Hearing rushed footsteps, Robin turned and barely threw up his arm to block a beer bottle that shattered on the gauntlet, the noise drawing Impulse's attention right as Robin then grabbed the man and slammed him into the wall, leaving him open to his friend who ran at the same time.

A split second later, the man went flying into the wall. "Hey aren't you Robin?" Impulse asked in a hyperactive manner, zooming in around him. "You are! Does that mean I'm in Gotham? Oh man I really took a wrong turn huh."

"Wha?" Robin was dumbfounded while the last few thugs tensed by this development.

"Whoa this cape is nice, I wish I had a cape," Impulse pulled on it before zooming to a stop in front of Robin. "But Dad said it wasn't practical for Speedsters."

Robin just blinked still trying to process this.

"Hi I'm Impulse." Impulse greeted with a smile.

Seeing as how a 'Meta' joined in with the Boy Wonder, the remaining thugs grew a brain and tried to run for it.

Seeing that, Robin reached into his belt to pull out the grappling gun and aim it at a nearby trashcan before firing it so he could fling the trash can at the remaining thugs, knocking them down, although he missed one, but Impulse zoomed over and tripped him before bringing him and the people Robin took down into a pile with them tied up.

Robin slowly walked towards her, looking at that. "Where did you get the rope?" He asked in surprise considering he didn't see where she could keep one.

"I saw it when I was gathering them," Impulse answered with a grin. "I wasn't sure how you Bats did things besides what Dad tells me but I figured this would work."

"Uh-huh," Robin said not sure how to take that. "So what brings you to Gotham?"

At that Impulse sheepishly rubbed the back of her head looking embarrassed. "I was racing Dad and I think I made a wrong turn in taking a shortcut." She said with a grin. "Any chance you know which way is Keystone?"

Robin just stared before raising a finger to tell her to wait a minute while he pressed the com link on his hear. "Oracle, is there any chance you can get in contact with the Flash?" He asked while Impulse looked around the street in a hyperactive manner.

" _ **Any reason why you're asking that?**_ " Oracle asked at the uncommon question from Robin.

"I'm standing next to Impulse right now." Robin deadpanned earning an 'ah'.

" _ **I'll get in contact with him now-,**_ " Oracle stopped at realizing something. " _ **Are you out by yourself?**_ "

Now Robin looked a little nervous. "... If I said yes would I be in trouble?"

He swore he heard an amused sigh from the other end before Oracle answered. " _ **No you're not in trouble, I still remember the days when Dick and I did the same thing,**_ " She said with Robin looking relieved. " _ **Although Bruce might say differently once he finds out about this.**_ "

Just like that Robin was worried again.

" _ **Alright, I just contacted Flash, he'll be there short-.**_ " Dust kicked into the air as a man in a red armored suit skidded into view, a lightning bolt emblem on his chest with white lenses on his cowl. " _ **-ly.**_ "

"I'm already here Oracle." The Flash said on his Justice League com link. "Thanks."

"Hey Dad." Impulse ran around Flash with a grin who easily picked her up.

"You had me worried when you didn't show up at the finish line." Flash sternly said with Impulse giving an apologetic smile.

"Sorry I took a wrong turn," Impulse told him before vibrating herself through his hands, landing on the ground speeding over to where Robin and the tied up, unconscious thugs were. "But I had some fun."

"I see." Flash said his stern demeanor disappearing before looking at Robin. "Nightwing told me about you, nice to meet you."

"Pleasure's mine," Robin said politely already knowing this was the original Kid Flash, a member of the original Teen Titans and now the third Flash from reading some of Batman's files. "I have to say Impulse caught me off guard coming out of nowhere like that."

"Yeah sorry about that, she's still getting used to her powers," Flash explained before looking at Impulse. "We should head back before Bats gets cranky with us being in his city, it's almost your bedtime anyways."

"Aw." Impulse looked a little annoyed by that. "Do I have to?"

"It's a school night." Flash reminded her while Robin grimaced, knowing he would have to head back soon.

"Alright," Impulse had her arms crossed before smiling when she turned towards Robin. "Nice meeting you Robin, we should team-up again someday."

With that said she took off running with Flash right behind her while Robin just stood there before he shook his head.

"When I wanted to get my mind off of things that was the last thing I was expecting." He muttered grappling up to the rooftop.

* * *

The next day in school during lunch, John looked through his sketchbook with detailed drawings of some of his adventures as Robin from the mess with Scarecrow to fighting Anarky-of course they were of before things went to hell so it looked cooler.

It was a bit of a scrapbook he made of his adventures with some newspaper clippings along with the autograph he did manage to get from Superman.

While it sounded stupid, John liked to do this-of course he really wished Dick didn't find out because the guy despite being nice did some light, good-natured teasing on him towards this.

Just recently he added in the spar with Spoiler being drawn and was now drawing the meeting with Impulse.

Thinking about that made his mouth twitch in amusement considering he thought he was only going to see stuff that sticked to Gotham, so that meeting with Impulse and then Flash threw him off completely.

Closing the scrapbook, John looked across to where Tim used to sit and sighed as his friend was transferred to another school, Brentwood Academy.

While it was possible for him to call as a friend, Tim warned him not to as he didn't want his father to realize that John was the new Robin and think that Tim was going back into that life.

Feeling something vibrate in his pocket, John discreetly checked his phone to see a message from Stephanie asking if he was going to be heading to the Clocktower that night.

' _Well Bruce did ground me from being Robin after he found out about my little lone patrol._ ' John thought texting he would but as John instead of Robin saying he was grounded from it.

The reply he got said it was cool as she was thinking they could all use a break from the whole costume thing.

* * *

"Wait, you're serious?" John asked as he was sitting on a chair in the clock tower while Stephanie had a few movies.

"What, you said so yourself that you're grounded so we can't really go on patrol," Stephanie said with a shrug before frowning. "Batgirl should show up pretty soon."

As if on cue, the door opened to show Batgirl… Still in her costume, stopping at seeing Stephanie and John in civvies a little surprised.

"Just in time, you want to watch some movies?" John asked with a grin before pausing as he looked back at Stephanie. "What movies do you have anyways?"

"Horror Themed, Nightmare on Elm-Street, Halloween, Friday the 13th." Stephanie listed with John giving a deadpanned stare.

"Seriously?"

"What, just because we fight crime that's close to them they're still good movies." Stephanie said with a shrug before looking at Batgirl. "You going to take that off anytime soon?"

Batgirl hesitated a bit, not that she didn't trust John as Robin to an extent but she always deemed being Batgirl as her real self and who she was underneath it to be the mask.

After a moment, Batgirl gave a nod and pulled the cowl off to show an Asian girl with short black hair and brown eyes.

"There you go Cass." Stephanie said with a grin while Batg-Cass gave her a look before leaving the room to change.

A few moments later they were in the middle of watching one of the Friday the 13th Movies with a bowl of Popcorn. "These teenagers are dumbasses." John deadpanned watching it, although he looked red in the face at some scenes and had to look away, feeling a little uncomfortable.

"Agreed." Cass stated taking a sip of some soda that Stephanie brought.

"It's just a movie so relax." Stephanie said tossing some Popcorn at him.

"It might be a movie but it should still have some plot, besides the smart thing to do if you hear about an immortal serial killer would be to go in the complete opposite direction instead of continuing towards it."

"So you're saying if Jason Vorhees existed, you would avoid that camp and let people die?" Stephanie asked in a joking tone with an arched brow.

"No but I'm pretty sure the League would've taken care of him pretty easily, and someone like Dr. Fate or even Constantine would be able to banish him from the world." John replied casually.

"Fair enough." Stephanie gave him that one. "So how did you get grounded from being Robin anyways?"

"I might've snuck out for a solo patrol." John scratched the side of his face. "Just wanted to try it out and it ended up with me meeting the new Impulse so I had to call Barbara to get in contact with Flash to let him know."

Stephanie looked surprised before smirking. "Did you ask for his autograph?"

Slowly, John looked towards her. "I'm never going to live that down am I?"

"No." Cass spoke up this time in a casual tone that barely hid some amusement.

"She's right John," Stephanie told him, none of them noticed when Cass stiffened up on hearing that name. "You'll just have to get used to it."

"Very funny."

While the two got back to watching the movie, Cass silently got up and left her mind thinking back to a dark skinned man from her early days as Batgirl.

"So Cass what do you-?" Stephanie stopped at seeing her gone. "Did she just pull the vanishing trick on us?"

John blinked and turned to see what she meant. "Damn it, I really need to practice that more." He muttered as that was one thing he's had trouble with besides escape artistry.

* * *

A week later, John was at the Cave hanging upside down in a straitjacket over a container of water while Bruce stood nearby with a timer, dressed in the Batsuit but with the cowl off.

"Is this really necessary?" John asked struggling to get free trying to remember what Bruce taught him to get out.

"You're lacking in this department and it's important to know," Bruce told him looking at the timer as twenty seconds passed already. "By now you would be in the water."

"Sorry that I'm not Houdini." John muttered as he struggled some more.

But his mind however was flashing back to Cass who has been avoiding him ever since that movie night for some odd reason.

Seeing that he was distracted, Bruce pressed a button that had John drop with a yelp before pulling him out of the water. "I know this is a skill you haven't gotten far in but you're usually farther than that," He told him with a frown. "What happened?"

"I-It's nothing." John said looking away not really wanting to bring up what he was thinking.

Bruce looked as if he didn't believe him. "Is this about your visit to Jason?"

John's head snapped up in shock. "How did you know about that?!"

Bruce just gave him a look with a small smirk that he could barely notice.

"Right, forgot who I was talking to." John muttered with his head low.

"I found out that you were looking into him last month." Bruce told him.

John blinked at Bruce in surprise. "You're not angry?"

Bruce shook his head. "No, I'm impressed at how you figured it out with how little information you had and kept it hidden for this long." He said to him.

John smiled a bit at hearing that before the computer went off.

"Justice League to Batman come in." An image of a dark skinned man with a black T on his face wearing a black jacket said. "I repeat, Justice League to Batman."

Bruce quickly pulled the cowl on and got to the computer. "What is it Mr. Terrific?" He asked the hero who usually stayed on the Watchtower to scan the world for threats.

"Booster Gold found a lead on Grodd, who has been seen in the company of Grundy, Mirror Master and Shade." Terrific told him with Batman frowning at that info.

"You think he's forming another incarnation of the Injustice League." Batman stated knowing the answer.

"Either that or another Secret Society." Mr. Terrific said with a sigh. "Although I don't know how Grodd got them to follow him again after last time."

"Perhaps he has a different end-game than last time." Batman suggested already knowing he would be extremely busy before the computer went off showing the bat signal was on. "I'll have to get back to you on that one, Commissioner Gordon just contacted me."

"We'll keep an eye out for them and any former members just in case." Mr. Terrific promised before he cut the feed.

"Secret Society?" John asked having been quiet during the whole conversation. "Wasn't that the organization of criminals that Grodd created to go against the League?"

"It was before it was shut down, it looks like Grodd decided to try again." Batman said before looking at John. "Suit up, we're heading to the GCPD."

John's eyes widened before he grinned.

* * *

Commissioner James Gordon stood on the rooftop of the GCPD in his usual brown jacket a wooden pipe on his hands filled with tobacco while he waited, a light shining into the sky in the shape of a bat, his brown hair in the process of turning white with his age before he sensed someone behind him and turned to see Batman.

"One of these day's I'm going to put a bell on you." Gordon commented to Batman in response to his knack for coming out of nowhere.

"Good luck, I've been trying for the last year." Gordon looked towards the voice to see Robin near the light giving a wave.

"Another one?" Gordon asked due to how he's never met this one until now. "What happened to the last one?"

Hearing the concern in his tone, Batman answered. "He's alive and well, just wanted to try a normal life."

"That's good." Gordon muttered no doubt remembering the second Robin, placing the pipe in his mouth to take a puff.

"What's the trouble?" Batman got straight to the point.

Gordon slowly took the pipe out of his mouth and sighed, the smoke blowing out. "Joker is on the loose."

"What?" Batman asked his tone hardening.

Robin blinked in surprise.

That was impossible, Batman had him on surveillance 24/7 and Oracle would've notified him if Joker made an attempt.

"Sometime in the last month there was a switch, Clayface ended up taking Joker's place while he snuck out without being seen or killing anyone-which is a goddamn miracle," Gordon muttered that last part before getting back to the point. "But that has me on edge."

"He's planning something big." Batman didn't need Gordon to say it.

"We have every exit in and out of Gotham on lock down until we find him." Gordon said to him. "We're also checking every known associate with him as well as every location we know he would consider using."

"Is Harley Quinn still locked up?" Batman asked with Gordon giving a nod.

"Guess he didn't have her calculated in his plans this time."

"Be sure to tighten security around her cell, he might change his mind." Batman said with Gordon giving a nod turning to turn off the Bat Signal while Robin joined Batman and they jumped off the rooftop.

"I already have Cash on that, but what do you think-?" Gordon stopped when he realized he was alone and sighed. "I really should be used to that by now."

Robin looked at Batman when they were a bit away. "So what's the plan?" He asked as the man was a bit too quiet.

"You're going home until Joker is caught." Batman said before giving a glare right when Robin was about to argue. "I am not having you go anywhere near the Joker."

"I-." Robin went quiet remembering the different articles about the Joker he found when researching the Red Hood. "I get that but what about you? Aren't we partners?"

Batman didn't answer that. "Go home." He said jumping off of the rooftop right as the Batmobile swerved into the street, landing in it before driving off.

Once more what Jason said went through Robin's mind. "I guess not." He muttered sadly before hearing a voice behind him.

"Oh sorry was that supposed to be private?" Spinning around, Robin saw no one.

"Hello?" Robin had a Birdarang out while walking around, eyes scanning the area-.

He barely saw a cane stick out from the shadows before he was blinded, stumbling.

Panicking as one of his senses were robbed, Robin went to quickly use his com link only for something to smack him in the back of the head making him go down.

The last thing he heard before falling unconscious was. "That makes four brats, hope Ebon and Grodd got the fifth."

 _ **To Be Continued…**_

 _ **Okay not as long as the other three chapters but I hope it was interesting for everyone as we're moving away from the Batman area and having the next chapter be more of a DC one with other characters coming in.**_

 _ **Now we have John who is currently sixteen with a half a year of experience in being Robin and making a bit of a name for himself as well as getting a bit more daring from taking on Anarky to going on a Solo Patrol, as well as finally figuring out who the Red Hood is-although it only took that long because he was attempting to keep it a secret from Batman which is next to impossible.**_

 _ **We also had him finally reveal his identity to Batgirl and Spoiler with them returning the favor-although now Cass is a bit hesitant about Robin-let's just say those who read the Batgirl comics get why she's like that when she heard his name.**_

 _ **Finally we had a surprise cameo with the second Impulse and the Flash-now who expected that? It was kind of a spur of the moment decision but it was building up for the next chapter.**_

 _ **And with Batman leaving Robin by himself there on the rooftop, I'd like to think that on hearing that the Joker has been on the loose for quite awhile without causing any trouble has him too much on edge to worry about making sure he got home in his attempt to find the Clown Prince of Crime.**_

 _ **Oh and nothing on Shriev in this chapter, but I will say that I plan to have a part with him in the next-away from the action.**_

 _ **Alright time to answer Reviews.**_

 _ **Dark King Marcel: Thanks man and thank you for asking me to take this challenge, it's very fun.**_

 _ **DannyPhantom619: Yeah I always love typing people who banter like that and John will keep that trait when he becomes Red-X. I might take some others into consideration but he won't be paired with Supergirl-not that she's a bad character-I like her character and think she's awesome-it's just that she's the pairing in just about every DC crossover you find-or rather the ones I found.**_

 _ **Iwymoisiraslom: Yeah and he'll make another appearance in this story, I can promise that. And Shriek isn't the only villain that will be a part of John's Rogue's Gallery, I have quite a few plans in the works. And no he won't go on a training trip, he'll still be in school when he becomes Red-X.**_

 _ **Nightmaster000: I'll have to read that story because the idea of Duela is interesting and sorry but I have another plan for Blackfire-she will appear though I can promise that.**_

 _ **Coldblue: Yeah I know what you mean, I hope you enjoyed how John found out who Jason was and their interaction-more will come in the story as well as how better at being Robin John is at the moment with the six month time skip. I might do something like that in regards to practicing writing romance. Again the pairings I'm a little at a loss now as I see so much potential but I want to just have it out there that I have a plan for Blackfire that doesn't involve John.**_

 _ **Now for your Questions. 1) After this next chapter maybe. 2) Don't know. 3) No I haven't, I keep putting it off because I want to type but I also want to read it. 4) At some point perhaps? 5) Mostly as Red-X but he'll have a bit of an adventure in the next chapter. 6) After this next chapter.**_

 _ **HayabusaDragonForce: Just one pairing and although that doesn't mean he won't date someone else for a time before that one pairing.**_

 _ **Guest3: I'll take that into consideration but I won't promise anything.**_

 _ **Bael92: Make that three chapters as I decided to do something for the next one. As for the reason well I'll let you figure it out when I get to that point.**_

 _ **Slash17: Thank you and I'm happy you liked the cameos in that chapter and hope you enjoyed the ones in this chapter-I will have more going on as I continue the story. I will add more gadgets-hope you liked the introduction of the Disruptor in the beginning of this chapter. Haha the Red Squadron? I will definitely make that happen.**_

 _ **QI: Thank you and I hope you enjoyed that chapter with my Pokemon story as well as this one.**_

 _ **Alright this is Spidey Signing Out! Happy Holidays-meant to say that on an earlier update and see everyone in the New Year!**_


	5. Chapter 5: Escaping the Society

_**Chapter 05: Escaping the Society**_

Batman frowned while searching through an abandoned warehouse that he knew was recently used as there was graffiti all over the wall in the shape of green smiles and wind-up teeth chattering around.

He managed to scare this location out of one of Joker's contacts, leading him here but he had his guard up.

This was way too easy.

"Ahahahahahahahahah." The familiar, dreaded laughter could be heard as Batman made his way through the warehouse. "Come on Batsy, you're almost there, you can just taste it."

"What's your game Joker?" Batman called out not hiding that he was there keeping his eye out for the sadistic clown. "Why did you lead me here?"

"What? I can't invite my dear old friend without having a reason?" Joker's voice echoed in mock disappointment. "I'm hurt Batsy that you think so low of me. And here I thought we could catch up, after all it's been what a year since our last little get together?"

Batman paused, slipping some batarangs into his hands.

"Too bad it's not just the two of us though, speaking of which, where's that new sidekick of yours?" Joker taunted earning a scowl from Batman while filing away what he just said about there being more people. "And here I was so looking forward to him meeting his Uncle J, I have so many stories to tell him, one of them pertaining a crowbar."

Batman ignored the clown and continued towards the end of the warehouse where he saw the clown himself dressed in his usual purple suit with his green hair slicked back, turning to show the red smile on his paled face that was twisted into a nightmarish grin.

"Hello Batsy." Joker greeted with a laugh.

Instead of running in to tackle the clown, Batman frowned. "Where are you really?" He asked throwing the batarang right through the hologram. "And who are you working with?"

This was a bit too high-tech to be just him alone.

"Is that disappointment I hear in your tone Batsy?" Joker tsked in a mocking voice. "So sorry but my associates had something better in mind."

On hearing the word associates, Batman frowned. "Grodd." He deduced now understanding.

The Joker was a part of the Secret Society.

Risky considering the Clown's reputation but Grodd might've risked it due to how the Joker did take on the League at one point when it was still the founding members incapacitating five of them before being caught.

"Correctomundo, we have a winner," Joker's smile got wider. "Oh I feel like giving you a prize but it seems I got it instead, perhaps you're missing something?"

That made Batman wary, his eyes scanning to see if something was going to attack him.

"Or rather someone?" Joker's smile turned dark as the implications set in on Batman.

"What did you do?"

"Me? Nothing, it was Shade who ambushed your dear Boy Wonder while you left him all by his lonesome," Joker said dramatically placing a hand on his forehead. "Shame on you Batsy."

Batman's facade fell in horror at what he just said, something that Joker caught before he could hide it.

"How about I go introduce myself?" Joker offered not giving Batman the chance to shout when the hologram shut off.

Immediately, Batman was running back the way he came a finger on his cowl. "Oracle, find the coordinates on Robin's tracer. The code to access it is 010695."

" _ **Tra-you bugged him?**_ " Oracle asked before sighing. " _ **What am I saying of course you did.**_ "

While she did that, Batman heard ticking and moved faster knowing that Joker rigged this place to blow and didn't start the countdown until after their conversation.

So quickly taking his grapple out, he shot it at the ceiling and shot himself through the skylight right as the explosives went off, the force blasting him further before he began to fall, grappling the side of a building near the warehouse to swing right onto a fire escape landing to stare at the burning warehouse with a dark look.

" _ **Batman… The tracer is inactive.**_ " Oracle said sounding worried. " _ **I'm trying to trace the signal that hologram was coming from but something is blocking me.**_ "

* * *

Waking up in pain, Robin kept his eyes closed while he felt that he was restrained, quickly taking note of what was happening.

Something that Batman taught him for just in case he was ever kidnapped-something he hoped wouldn't have happened. Right now the best thing to do was to fake being unconscious just in case his captors were in the room.

' _Okay I can still feel the mask on my face but my hands are restrained to some sort of wall, so are my feet._ ' Robin quietly mused. ' _I lost my eyesight earlier-don't know if I have it back yet or not, but I saw a cane before that so my kidnapper has to be Shade, but why would he kidnap me? I thought he was working with Grodd on his Secret Society?_ '

And his hands felt bare so his gauntlets were gone leaving him without his lock picks-.

"I know you're awake, I can hear your thoughts." Robin opened his eyes to see a Gorilla smirking at him behind an energy field.

"Grodd?" Robin asked recognizing him from the files while using the meditation training to try and avoid thinking of his name or life.

Grodd smirked as if detecting his feeble attempt at trying to hide his identity-amusing but he doesn't care who the Boy Wonder was. "I see Batman has taught you well from how you were attempting to find out how to escape your constraints," He voiced to him. "Futile considering I took every precaution due to the reputation of your predecessors as well as those of your mentor."

"What's the idea kidnapping me?" Robin asked in bewilderment.

He never even met Grodd until this moment so why would he do this?

"Oh you and the others are just insurance for the League." Grodd commented making Robin frown.

"Others?" He asked before getting it. "You're kidnapping the partners of members of the League."

"Bravo, you only figured out a small token of this plot." Grodd said slowly as if speaking to a child. "The League wouldn't dare make too big of a move if their partners are in danger."

"Tell me something," Robin began to channel his mentor in an effort to keep Grodd talking so he could find out more about what was going on while looking for a way to get out. "How did you get followers again? I would figure they would be hesitant considering last time your main plan was to turn everyone into apes-speaking of which seriously?"

Grodd frowned at that barb. "You sure you're not related to the Flash?" He asked as the personality was reminding him way too much of the speedster.

Robin shrugged, at least he tried to.

"I suppose there's no harm in telling you that much," Grodd chuckled walking past Robin. "I'm a little more open with my plan to some of them, enough to get the support and funding necessary to go through with it.

' _Great that's not vague at all._ ' Robin thought sarcastically, earning a smirk from Grodd who read his mind.

"Now if you'll excuse me I have a lot of planning to take care of, be a good boy and I might allow you your life when the League is dead." Grodd said leaving the room.

No sooner did he leave did Robin look around not seeing a camera but figured it was just concealed and struggled.

He could see his belt was gone as well showing that if he does manage to escape he would need to get his stuff back.

Hell, they even took his cape.

' _I should also locate the others taken, it would be easier to escape once I do that._ ' Robin thought but knew that he wouldn't be able to locate them without hacking wherever the mainframe of this place was and he would need his gauntlets for that.

The only other option would be to wait for the League but Robin didn't know when they would find him and the others.

"I guess I should be lucky it's not a school night." Robin muttered under his breath as his Dad didn't care what he did with his personal life as long as he didn't skip school.

"Lucky you kiddo." A voice spoke up grabbing Robin's attention and he paled when he looked to see who spoke.

The Joker was on the other side of the force field with his grin widened.

"Hm a little on the short side compared to the other Boy Blunders," Joker mused cupping his chin while walking in front of the force field with a grin. "But I don't discriminate, now do I?"

Robin kept quiet trying not to show some fear while Joker chuckled.

"The silent type huh? No hello for your Uncle J?" Joker asked his grin still present. "Now where are your manners Birdy?"

' _I'm fine, he's on the other side of that force field._ ' Robin thought to himself trying not to hyperventilate while Joker seemed to be messing with something only for the force field to die out. ' _... Well there went that security blanket._ '

"There we go, it's so much more personal when there isn't anything between us am I right?" Joker asked walking towards Robin who still kept silent. "Wow you must be a buzz at parties."

Suddenly Joker whirled at him, and slammed a fist into the left side of the suit, making Robin gasp at the sudden hit in pain as Joker knew just where to hit on the suit due to his experience in fighting Batman.

"Ah there we go, I got a sound out of you." Joker said with a grin while Robin was coughing. "So did ol Batsy ever tell you about me?"

Robin glared at him trying to act like he wasn't intimidated.

Joker finally frowned now tired of the silent act. "Say something!" He snapped getting into Robin's face.

Robin didn't know if it was the residual anger from finding out that Joker crippled Barbara or from the fear he was feeling, but he slammed his head right into Joker's nose hearing a crack as the clown backed up, holding it in surprise with some blood coming out.

Now Robin glared defiantly at the man, his heart pounding in terror from the glare that Joker had before he began to chuckle, one that turned into full blown laughter that chilled his bones.

"Oh you are going to be a lot of fun kiddo." Joker said with a sadistic smile pulling a switchblade from his pocket.

He pulled his arm back about to swipe at him only for a giant fist to enclose around it, ignoring the blade that was digging into it.

Joker frowned and looked at the face of Solomon Grundy who was in his usual trenchcoat with varied bladed weapons strapped to his back. "Way to spoil my fun Grundy."

"Boss saw Clown come down here, so Boss sent Grundy to make sure you don't harm Birdy." Grundy spoke, tone sounding like gravel. "If Clown don't leave, Grundy will crush hand."

Joker and Grundy glared at each other before he chuckled. "Very well Grundy, just as long as the ol monkey remembers the deal," He said with Grundy letting his hand go as Joker straightened his suit, looking at Robin in the process. "Sorry to cut this meeting short kiddo but don't worry, Grodd promised that once this was over I can decide what to do with you, oh I can't wait to see Batsy's face when he see's that I killed yet another one of his sidekicks-hopefully you will stay dead unlike the last one."

Robin's face turn to one of shock as Joker left.

He was the one who killed Jason?

Grundy looked at Joker leaving before turning to Robin who stilled. "Uh thanks?" He said not sure what to do but Grundy just left.

… Without turning the force field back on earning a grin from Robin.

That was his ticket out-if he could just get out of the constraints he would be good.

* * *

"Well, don't you look nice." Grodd commented as Joker came out of the elevator leading to the floor where Robin was imprisoned. "Red really does look good on you."

Joker chuckled at him. "Ah Grodd nice try but please," He grinned at him. "Leave the jokes to the professional."

"Oh I have no intentions of cracking jokes, but I'm only going to say this once." Grodd slammed Joker into the wall with an animalistic growl. "Be patient, you can have Robin after you do your part."

Unknown to him, Joker was prepared to use his Joker Venom that was secured in the flower on his suit but he wanted to save that for future use. "Oh don't be a party pooper Grodd, what's a few knife wounds between friends?"

Glaring at Joker, Grodd released him. "Just do the job I hired you for." He told him with Joker chuckling, leaving.

While he left, Shade, adjusting his top hat while dressed in a black suit came out of the shadows. "I don't like having him around." He said to the ape. "He's planning something."

"I know that but he's useful, no one can predict the Batman like he can except for Ras Al Ghul and I rather not bring the League of Shadows in this," Grodd said before walking away. "Besides once he outlives his usefulness he'll be killed."

"Easier said than done." Shade said to him, placing his cane over his shoulder. "The psycho incapacitated Superman once."

* * *

Above orbit in a huge satellite-like structure, Batman stood looking through the Justice League Databanks, scanning for where Grodd's Secret Society could be.

Seeing nothing popping up in his search, Batman resisted the urge to slam a fist on the computer knowing that while it would relieve some anger it would also do more harm than good.

Feeling a rush of wind, Batman didn't look up when Flash spoke. "Find anything?"

"If I did we would be moving." Batman commented trying to ignore this was the tenth time the scarlet speedster asked that considering that on coming onto the Watchtower he found out it wasn't just Robin who was kidnapped.

So were Impulse, Aqualad, Speedy and from the News, Static himself was taken as well by this Secret Society.

Flash looked very concerned as he quickly ran to another computer to try and do a search of his own. "Come on, go faster." He complained considering to him the League computer was slow.

"Chill out Flash, we'll find them." Another voice spoke up as a dark-skinned man with glowing blue cybernetic implants came in, his left eye glowing red. "I'm running a search through every camera out there myself."

"I can't chill Vic, my daughter has been kidnapped." Flash snapped at Cyborg, a founding member of the Teen Titans and a member of the Justice League.

"Wally I know and you're not the only one suffering from this." Cyborg reminded him. "I promise you that I will find them."

Flash hesitated before giving a nod. "Thanks Cy," He said before sighing. "You ever wish it was as simple as when we were the Titans?"

"You and I have very different definitions of the word simple." Cyborg commented in humor no doubt thinking back to the Brotherhood of Evil, HIVE and Trigon when they were teens, while Batman ignored them. "Get something to eat before you burn out, I'll call you when we locate them."

Flash gave a nod considering he's been ignoring the need to eat to keep his speed up in his worry and left.

"Did you tell Wing about this?" Cyborg asked looking at Batman.

"No, he's busy in Bludhaven with something, him knowing this will distract him." Batman said not even turning towards him.

He had forbidden Oracle from telling Batgirl and Spoiler knowing that they would go out and look for Robin as well-and he had to make sure Jason didn't find out considering he would go in guns blazing to kill the Joker.

"I think I'm starting to see where Wing got some of his personality from when he lead the Titans." Cyborg muttered under his breath only for Batman to answer.

"I heard that."

Cyborg looked a bit sheepish at that.

* * *

Robin took a deep breath as he found a way to escape and prepared himself.

Gritting his teeth he barely stopped himself from crying out when he dislocated his right wrist and slipped it out of the constraint, ignoring the pain when he brought it to where his left hand was still constrained and gripped it.

A second later it was relocated with a small pop to where he could move it with some pain.

With one hand free, he reached to where the 'R' emblem was on his chest and reached underneath it where a small pouch was to produce a lock pick.

Robin always thought Batman was way too paranoid when he had that added, but now he was grateful his mentor thought ahead.

A few moments later, Robin was free of the constraints and landed on the floor in a crouch.

' _Okay I'm in an unknown location that's filled with criminals-one of them being the Joker and Solomon Grundy an immortal zombie along with Gorilla Grodd who has psychic abilities._ ' Robin thought about his situation. ' _I don't have any of my equipment except for one hacking tool and one small sticky bomb that are hidden in my boots._ '

So stealth was the only way he could get through this, luckily that was one skill he has learned.

Moving silently through the halls, Robin used had to hide at one point when some armed guards came in showing that it all wasn't just super villains in this place.

Seeing that the coast was clear, Robin continued down the hall before coming to a room where he saw another prisoner.

It was a dark-skinned teen, shackled to the wall with blonde hair dressed in a scale armor red sleeveless shirt and blue jeans with an 'A' on the belt and eel like tattoos on his arms.

The room felt unbearably hot and Robin knew exactly why.

Atlanteans don't do well with high temperatures.

Seeing as he didn't see a way to turn the heat down, Robin ran to the constraints and began to pick them.

Feeling someone messing with the constraints, Aqualad opened his green eyes tired from heat exhaustion. "Who?" He got out before giving a dry cough.

"Hang on, I'll get you out of there soon." Robin said knowing he would have to get him some water to fix the damage and then he would have a strong ally in this place before smiling. "The name's Robin."

Aqualad's vision finally focused on him before giving a nod. "Aqualad."

"I can tell," Robin commented in a joking tone before getting him free and supporting him. "Come on, we won't have long until Grodd and his Secret Society figure out that we're free so we better get you hydrated."

Seeing some guards out in the hall, Robin cursed. "Great, we'll never be able to sneak past them."

Looking around, Robin spotted an air vent.

"Think you can reach that after it's opened?"

Aqualad followed his gaze. "I can." He said knowing they had to move.

With that said, Robin easily scaled the wall while Aqualad had to hold onto the wall to keep standing and easily pulled the vent open, wincing as it cut into his fingers.

"Alright," Robin reached down while his legs were already in. "Jump."

Aqualad gave a nod, still having some of his enhanced strength to be able to do so, grabbing Robin's hand as the young vigilante pulled him into the air vent.

A few minutes of travelling through the vents, the hot air changed to cold air, leaving Aqualad to sigh in relief. "That's better," He muttered looking at Robin. "Thank you."

"No problem," Robin said giving a grin as they traversed the vents. "Now we just need to find the other heroes Grodd kidnapped and get our gear back."

"That would be easier said than done." Aqualad pointed out. "We should contact the League."

"I don't have my com link, they must've snatched it," Robin muttered, leaving Aqualad to press the A on his belt before he frowned.

"It's jammed otherwise it would be blinking."

"So we're cut off from the League, you think they even know we were taken?"

"I was with my king when we were attacked, by Ocean Master and one of the other surface dwellers known as Heatwave," Aqualad responded with Robin taking the possibility of running into those two into account. "Chances are he's looking for me and by extension the others."

Robin gave a nod. "Alright, how you holding up?" He asked with them pausing when a patrol passed by underneath them to avoid letting them know they were in the vents.

"I'm better now that we're out of that room, but I'm not at full health I'll admit," Aqualad answered knowing why Robin was asking. "Do you know who else this Society have captured?"

"Not a clue, I was hoping you knew." Robin sighed at that. "I hate going into a situation blind."

"On that we can agree."

* * *

Unknown to the two, Grodd was listening to their conversation through the bugged vents with a smirk.

Everything was going according to plan as he knew that Robin would find some way to escape considering how his mentor was known very well for getting out of every known form of constraint-which was why he kept the force field down.

He already has what he needed from these children and his real plan was almost done from the small team of criminals that broke into STAR Labs while the League were looking for the missing sidekicks.

Soon it would be time to cut his losses and leave this temporary base.

* * *

Robin frowned as he pressed the sides of his mask to bring up the forensic scanners while pressing the R emblem on his chest.

Eventually he got a pulse in the Detective Vision, showing where his belt was being kept.

' _Good thing Batman added this nifty feature in the masks._ ' Robin thought before looking at Aqualad who looked surprised by how Robin's mask was now glowing blue.

"Come on, I figured out where my gear is, if we're lucky we'll be able to find yours if you have any."

"My Water Bearers." Aqualad voiced with Robin giving a nod now thinking that would be good for him to get.

"And if we find any other gear we could find out who else they caught," Robin said the two of them now moving forward, coming to what looked to be a lab where Robin saw a scientist attempting to open his utility belt only to stop when a small jolt erupted from it. "Thank goodness he didn't get it open, it would be a pain to put everything back in."

He could see a quiver and a bow giving the idea of who one of the prisoners were along with a pair of familiar goggles with red fingerless gauntlets.

"Speedy and Impulse," Robin muttered in surprise before glancing back at Aqualad. "You see your water bearers?"

"There." Aqualad pointed to what looked like a high-tech backpack with two handles sticking out.

"Hold up, something's not right this is too easy." Robin muttered as there were no alarms.

Surely they should've noticed that they escaped by now?

"You suspect a trap?" Aqualad asked with Robin giving a nod.

"I do, but we should get our gear so we'll be better prepared."

Giving a nod they kicked the air vent out surprising the scientist when Robin landed on the table in front of him.

"Do you see me messing with your stuff?" Robin quipped, throwing a left hook, knocking the man out. "Didn't think so."

Seeing Aqualad heading for his Water Bearers, Robin grabbed his gloves to put them on followed by the belt and cape.

"Ah that's better." Robin said with a grin, his hood pulled back up while Aqualad pulled one of the handles out with some water swirling around the handles, having them flow through him to re-hydrate him.

So with that, Robin grabbed the goggles, gauntlets, bow and quiver before seeing a piece of metal.

Feeling curious, he grabbed it only to see it unfold in a disc of some sort.

' _Light, conductible-I've seen this before._ ' Robin quickly thought of a file he saw on the Batcomputer during his studies. ' _Static._ '

So he made sure to pocket it before bringing up his holographic computer, frowning when he saw the screen freezing up. "So much for hacking to find the others."

"Then we do this the old fashioned way." Aqualad said with Robin giving a nod.

They had a better chance of escaping now.

"But unless we have no other option we should keep using stealth," Robin suggested tying up and gagging the scientist so he wouldn't raise an alarm if he woke up. "At least until we find the others."

* * *

"Booyah." Cyborg called out making Batman look up from his work. "I located some of them."

"Who?" Batman asked wanting to know who he found so he could prepare.

"Star Sapphire, Killer Frost, Metallo, Count Vertigo and Joker in Keystone City," Cyborg said scanning each of them. "They're not even trying to hide."

"It's a trap," Batman deduced but he knew it was one they had to spring if they had any chance of finding the others. "Call Lantern, Flash, Green Arrow and Aquaman."

He couldn't risk having Superman there with Metallo-no matter how many times the man has beaten him and even if he would the Man of Steel was taking care of a problem with Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter that involved Parasite, and Green Lantern was the perfect counter to Star Sapphire.

Moments later they used the Zeta Beams to teleport to the location a few yards from where Cyborg found them.

"What's the plan?" Hal Jordan asked curiously.

"We take them down and find out where the others are." Batman said plainly not even beating around the bush.

Aquaman smirked the light reflecting off his orange Atlantean armor. "My type of plan." He said eager for a fight.

"That's a real shocker." Green Arrow quipped checking his quiver to be sure he was properly equipped, a habit that has built up over the years. "Wally think you can handle Killer Frost?"

Flash gave a nod knowing that Arrow was only asking that considering that the woman used to be a colleague of his Uncle Barry the second Flash and he sometimes took it easy on her.

But with his daughter's life on the line he wasn't in the mood for going easy.

"I can have Overwatch hack the area ahead to see what we're getting into-." Arrow began only for Batman to speak up.

"I already have Oracle doing that, they're just waiting." Batman said with a frown.

"I can run in and draw them out." Flash offered but Arrow shook his head.

"What is it with you speedsters and running in without thinking?" He asked earning a light glare from the scarlet speedster.

"Actually I agree with Flash." Lantern said glowing green before taking off as Batman went to stop him.

"Just like old times." Aqualad quipped no doubt reminiscing about the early days of the League while Batman looked annoyed.

"This is why I'm a part-timer," He muttered under his breath while Flash took off to catch up with Lantern before he looked at Arrow and Aquaman. "While they draw the attention we can take them by surprise."

* * *

"Man what is it with bad guys and having large vents?" Robin randomly asked while he and Aqualad continued to be sneaky. "I mean not that I'm complaining but you think they would learn by now."

"You're pretty talkative." Aqualad noted remembering what Aquaman has told him about Batman and his partners.

"Sorry, I do that when I'm a little nervous," Robin apologized to him. "This is actually the biggest thing I've done since I became Robin, before this the only crazy things were taking down Scarecrow and Anarky. What about you?"

"I've helped my king with many of his enemies over the year consisting of Ocean Master, Celeana and Corum Rath." Aqualad revealed while Robin looked as he didn't know the last two before the two of them tensed hearing something coming their way in the vents.

The sound turned out to be a teenage girl in a black suit with a yellow arrow emblem on her chest, a yellow cloak over her head to cover her blonde hair and a domino mask not unlike Robin's.

"... Speedy?" Robin guessed in surprise while the girl gave a nod.

"Glad to see I'm not the only one who got away," She said noting how Robin had her gear. "You mind giving me that?"

"I would if there was room to remove it in here," Robin answered her. "Any chance you know where Impulse and Static are?"

Speedy shook her head. "I wasn't aware that anyone else was captured."

"Alright, do you know who captured you?" Robin asked earning a scowl from the archer.

"Merlyn." She muttered under her breath.

"An Assassin, okay we can deal with that." Robin gave a nod. "We should go find the other two before we try and contact the League."

"And who put you in charge?" Speedy asked with a frown not liking it when someone told her what to do.

Robin just glared at her. "If you have a better solution I'm all ears," He said to her as this wasn't the time. "If you don't then we need to find the others."

While he and Speedy were having their glaring contest, Aqualad frowned sensing an electromagnetic pulse nearby. "Follow me, I know where Static is." He said surprising the two.

"Wait how?" Robin asked not expecting that before Aqualad's tattoos glowed as some electricity surged around his arm, careful to not shock anyone.

"I'm not as proficient in it as some other Atlanteans but I can use it to sense where unique forms of electromagnetism are." Aqualad commented with Speedy giving an impressed whistle.

"Not bad for a fish out of water."

Aqualad didn't look too bothered by the joke as they continued on their way through the vents.

"So how did you get out?" Robin asked curiously with Aqualad pinpointing where Static's location was.

"Arrow taught me escape artistry and they didn't check everywhere for the ones hidden in my gloves," Speedy said a bit proudly with a smirk. "It was almost too easy, you?"

"Dislocated my wrist to slip a hand out before using a hidden lock pick because they took my gloves." Robin answered back a bit of a competitive edge to his tone that Speedy took note of right as they got out of the vents outside of a room where Aqualad was sensing the electromagnetic pulse.

"Hey!" The three young heroes paused when they saw countless armed thugs surrounding them.

"So much for stealth." Aqualad stated taking his Water Bearers out to form a sword and mace out of water while Robin quickly tossed Speedy her bow and quiver full of trick arrows that she quickly notched.

Robin took out two birdarangs, ready to throw them when Speedy smirked in his direction. "Bet I can take out more bad guys than you." She taunted with Robin returning the smirk.

"Oh you're so on." He said, Aqualad taking the time to shake his head at what they were doing before they moved into action.

* * *

Joker was humming a bit happily while waiting for Batsy to show up, not caring that the others were giving him looks of suspicion-the only one not bothered was Metallo as he wouldn't be affected by the Joker's usual methods.

"I don't like it." Frost said, her breath showing due to her powers while moving a strand of white hair behind her ears.

"You think I do?" Star Sapphire asked glowing purple to make sure that she wouldn't be gassed if he did anything. "I rather stay away from that psycho but you heard Grodd, he's an expert on the Bat."

"Which is ridiculous, he has no powers." Metallo scoffed at the idiocy of Grodd being more wary of Batman than say Superman. "He's just an idiot in a bat suit."

Joker gave a laugh at hearing him. "Oh chrome dome, saying that is like saying Supey is just a man wearing his underwear on the outside." He said to the cyborg. "Trust me when I say you shouldn't underestimate Batsy."

"Trust isn't something I do, especially with you." Metallo snapped at the clown while Count Vertigo just meditated a bit away to keep from the people he deemed 'peasants'-.

Star Sapphire immediately made a purple shield right as a green missile shot at them. "Jordan." She said glaring at the flight pilot who had a cocky smirk.

"Hey Carol, been a while." Lantern said to an old friend of his before making a shield to block a beam shot from her.

Killer Frost went to fire an icicle shard at him before a blur knocked her off of her feet.

"Hey Flash how did Batman look when I took off?" Lantern asked with Flash giving a sigh.

"Why must you poke the bear?"

"Because he needs to lighten up." Lantern quipped the two seeing the five villains tensed. "Think we can have some fun before the others catch up?"

Flash smirked and began to run quickly around the five criminals building up speed to shoot lightning at Metallo but Frost quickly shot ice making him veer off course.

"Seen Barry do that countless times Kid," Killer Frost commented at the speedster. "Have to try something new."

Before Flash could he began to feel dizzy, something that Lantern noticed and went to swing a giant green fist at Vertigo but he was covered by Sapphire.

"Not today Hal." Sapphire said blasting another beam that Lantern met with his own.

Joker just casually sat back, not doing anything, absently wishing he had a bowl of popcorn while waiting for Batsy before raising a brow at Metallo. "Not joining in?"

"I'd rather wait for Superman." Metallo commented a green glow in his eyes that Joker noticed with a smirk.

"Ah the ol' Kryptonite trick huh?"

The sound of a string being pulled could be heard before an arrow pierced Metallo's shoulder. "Sorry Metal Head but Supes is busy taking care of something else more important than you." Arrow snarked, landing on the ground before smirking. "Tick-tick boom."

Metallo blinked when the arrow in his shoulder began beeping, his eyes widening in realization. "Oh fu-."

 _ **-Boom-**_

The explosion sent Metallo right into Vertigo, freeing Flash of his abilities in time to dodge a blast from a recovering Killer Frost, making it over to Arrow.

"Thanks."

"Promised your Uncle that I would look after you." Arrow commented with another arrow ready.

Joker then smiled and ducked a Batarang. "Batsy you kept me waiting." He said with his arms out right as Batman grabbed him by the front of his suit.

"Where's Robin?" Batman asked darkly earning a chuckle.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Joker asked before grabbing Batman by his arms to jump and kick him in the chest, doing a hand spring back flip. "Try to find out."

Batman glared and readied himself for this fight.

* * *

"Six. Seven." Speedy commented using a trick arrow with a net to trap a few men before blocking a strike with her bow and kicking the guy right in the gut. "Eight."

"Eight? I have ten." Robin countered throwing a birdarang that emitted a flash to blind some of the men before diving in using pressure points that Batman taught him to take them down.

Aqualad just kept quiet focusing on the men he was fighting, easily deflecting blows and using his Atlantean strength to knock them out, holding back to avoid killing them.

For every person they took down though, two more seemed to join.

Robin actually managed to take the mask of one of the thugs off only to realize what was going on when he saw a face only seen in the files of one of Batman's enemies.

"John Marlowe." Robin quickly kicked off the guy before shouting to the others. "They're all the same person, it's the Everywhere Man."

"Everywhere Man? That's a horrible name," Speedy asked using a small explosive arrow that went off a few feet away from some of them, knocking them off their feet. "That makes sixteen."

"He can duplicate himself, like Multiplex." Robin explained blocking another hit. "In fact I wouldn't be surprised if Multiplex was in here as well, it would explain all of the men that Grodd has been able to get."

"So we have to find the real ones and take them out." Aqualad summarized hearing about those two.

"Easier said than done as it's a whole army." Robin threw a smoke bomb, using the smoke to take down some of them while they were blinded. "Eighteen."

Speedy shot yet another arrow, this one turning into a boxing glove that punched one of them in the mouth, sending him into another. "Twenty-Two, chances are the real Everywhere Man or Multiplex aren't even here." She commented

"Was that a boxing glove arrow?" Robin asked incredulously not wanting to waste anymore of his gadgets as he blocked a punch using the momentum to throw him into two more people. "Twenty-One."

"Don't dis the Boxing Glove arrow." Speedy joked as it was funny seeing people's reactions to that one. "It's perfect for punching someone at a distance."

Having enough of this fight, Aqualad focused as more water came out of his Water Bearer for him to whip at everyone around them, knocking them down to the ground, letting them catch their breaths.

Panting a bit, Speedy flashed a grin at Robin. "I believe I won this round." She said remembering the scores.

Robin smirked and tossed a birdarang at one of the duplicates that got up behind her, showing it to be a freeze disc as he was encased in ice. "Actually I believe it's a draw."

Speedy frowned. "Touche."

"Are you two done?" Aqualad asked walking off before smirking. "And I believe I won this one."

Both Speedy and Robin blinked before realizing that Aqualad did take out the most in that last move.

Taking out the sticky bomb, Robin placed it on the door with Aqualad and Speedy backing up.

Setting it for ten seconds, Robin took off running immediately, making it to the others right when it exploded, blowing the door off its hinges.

"If they didn't already know we were free before due to that mess they do now." Speedy said with the alarms blaring.

"Come on, we still have to find Impulse after we get Static out." Robin ran in there to see a dark skinned teen dressed in a white shirt with a black lightning bolt symbol and a blue jacket that was yellow on the inside with a white mask and yellow goggles on his forehead.

He was chained to the wall with a collar on his neck.

"An Inhibitor Collar." Speedy realized, her voice catching Static's attention.

"Finally, I was starting to get a cramp." Static said hiding that he was annoyed with his powers not working.

He should really look into how to get out of traps like this.

Robin got to work on picking at the Inhibitor Collar with his lock picks while Aqualad and Speedy watched the door. "Your powers should work again once this is off, think you can get out once it is?"

Static just smirked when the collar popped up. "Just stand back and watch." He said releasing the built up electricity that magnetically manipulated the chains to let go of him. "Ah that's better."

He then realized something. "Wait aren't you Robin? Does that mean the League is here?"

"Uh no, they kidnapped us too." Robin answered before Speedy looked their way.

"But why capture Static? No offense but he isn't really associated with the League."

"He is actually, Batman's files said that he helped the League with Brainiac earlier this year."

"Batman has a file on me?" Static asked not sure to think if that was cool or creepy.

"He has a file on everyone." Robin joked, reaching into his cape to produce the disc that Static flies on. "I believe this belongs to you."

Moments later they were running through the halls, or in Static's case flying.

"So we just need to find Impulse or anyone else they have in here." Speedy commented, having an arrow notched just in case they needed it.

"Easier said than done, it was only by luck I found Aqualad and that you ran into us in the vents," Robin said trying to hack again, this time finding it more manageable, probably because Static's electromagnetism was messing with the system they had in this place. "If it wasn't for Aqualad we wouldn't have found Static."

"Incoming." Static called out firing a blast of electricity at some guards, these ones were Multiplex rather than Everywhere Man.

"Okay this is getting annoying." Speedy muttered placing her arrow back to not waste anymore and used the hand-to-hand combat Black Canary taught her to get by.

"Keep them off of me, I almost have Impulse's location." Robin said kicking one guy back while he was hacking.

"Got it dawg." Static said blasting a few Mutliplex's back to watch over Robin, leaving Aqualad and Speedy to fight some of the others.

"Twenty-five." Speedy called out making Robin pause.

"No fair, I'm hacking-." He stopped when it beeped. "Done, I have a location-huh only five people were kidnapped?"

That was a bit odd? Why was it just the five of them considering there were the Titans that usually stuck together?

Deciding not to question it until after they were all out, Robin took out a smoke bomb. "Come on." He called out throwing it to block the vision of Multiplex, leaving for them to make a getaway.

"I swear if we find the real Multiplex or Everywhere Man I'm just going to punch him and be done with it." Speedy muttered as while taking on thugs was fun in her opinion, fighting an unlimited army like that was just annoying.

Robin however saw something when he looked at his gauntlets. "Something's not right."

"What's wrong?" Static asked hearing that.

"There were motion sensors in the vents." Robin said making Aqualad and Speedy look at him in surprise. "Grodd knew where we were the whole time before we got to Static."

"So we're playing into his hands?" Speedy asked not liking that at all.

"No." Robin muttered thinking back to the small conversation he had with Grodd.

' _Bravo, you only figured out a small token of this plot._ '

"Small token-he doesn't care if we escape or not we're nothing more something to keep the League busy from his real plan." Robin deduced looking at them. "With the League looking for us his Society would be free to do something he needs to do without any interference."

"That's crazy." Static commented in surprise at that.

"No it's Grodd working towards a bigger goal." Aqualad inputted a frown on his face. "And I believe the term we're looking for is tip of the iceberg."

"Yeah that's it." Speedy told him right when they opened the door to see Impulse tied up with her own inhibitor collar, her head hanging down while she was sitting against the wall. "Impulse is a kid?"

"Static think you can get the collar off?" Robin asked not sure if they had the time to waste for him to lock pick it.

Static gave a nod and shot some small jolts at it, making the collar fall off.

But Impulse wasn't vibrating through the ropes. "Impulse?" Robin shook her shoulder only to hear a loud growl making his face fall. "Right heightened metabolism."

"In other words she's hungry." Static translated with a chuckle.

"Robin?" Impulse muttered waking up to show green eyes as he cut through her ropes seeing that they didn't waste any time using metal to constrict her and just used plain old rope.

"Sorry we're late." Robin said handing her her gauntlets and goggles.

Seeing that, Impulse opened a small compartment in the gauntlets to show a protein bar coming out and ate it quickly. "Ah that's better." She said with a grin wiping her mouth.

"You sure you don't need to eat more?" Robin asked not expecting that. "I thought speedsters eat a lot of food."

"A friend of Dad made those bar to counteract the hypermetabolism speedsters give out, for emergencies though." Impulse commented before zipping around everyone else. "Hi nice to meet you. Oh man Jai is going to be so jealous."

* * *

Green Arrow ducked an explosion caused by Vertigo who was attempting to kill him using a mystical artifact while trying to catch him in range to make him dizzy but he kept his distance due to the arrows being fired at him.

"Should've stayed on that watch tower the League has Archer, because this is a fight you won't get out of." Vertigo declared with Arrow rolling his eyes.

"Like I haven't heard that one before." He said purposely missing but that in itself made Vertigo turn to see that he hit the roof above with an explosive arrow making the rubble fall towards him.

Vertigo blasted the rubble off of him with a murderous glare while Arrow sighed.

"Of course it's never easy."

While that was going on, Flash was running circles around Killer Frost, making sure not to get to close as the cold she emits from being in a close proximity really burns due to the friction he was currently exhibiting.

Making a wind funnel with his arms, Flash dodged icicles that impaled the wall. "Not going to try and talk me down?" Killer Frost asked in a mocking tone. "What's the matter Wally? Barry would be so disappointed in you."

"As much as I do want to help you Caitlin-." Flash ducked an ice blast and had to make some distance.

"Caitlin Snow is dead." Killer Frost snarled at him.

"No she's not." Flash said before glaring. "But right now I'm more concerned about my daughter."

Killer Frost smirked. "Don't worry she's being taken care of-." She was cut off guard when Flash just ran in, ignoring the cold to sock her in the face, sending her back.

Shaking her head a bit to clear it she looked at Flash in disbelief that he did something like that, who was ignoring the pain from the sudden cold on his hand with a glare.

"Even as Killer Frost you never involved children. So tell me where my daughter is."

Killer Frost's surprise turned to anger as she slammed a fist into the ground forming ice all around them, making sure to keep it contained to her fight with Flash making him cry out as the ice burned to his feet, not being able to move fast enough considering how blinded by anger he was.

"Don't worry I don't plan to hurt her Wally, you on the other hand I do." Killer Frost began to make spikes pop out of the ice, but Flash quickly vibrated his feet to make heat to melt the ice and quickly got out of there.

"Geez and to think I considered you an Aunt once." Flash quipped lighting sparking in his eyes.

Aquaman frowned while blocking a hit from Metallo with his trident before punching him across the room, twirling his trident. "Against Superman you're a formidable opponent, but against someone that isn't Kryptonian you're quite easy." The King of Atlantis mused earning a glare from Metallo.

"I'll show you easy!" Metallo slammed both of his fists against Aquaman's trident as the Atlantean held his ground. "B-But you're not in water."

Aquaman sighed. "I don't know how that stupid rumor got started but I'm not weaker on land." He said as his powers worked well on land unless he was in a desert or dehydrated like any other human being.

Flying past them, Lantern made a baseball bat to send an energy blast back at Sapphire before making a slingshot to fire one of his own that she blocked. "Come on Carol, how many times are we going to do this?" Lantern asked wanting to get his old friend back. "This isn't you."

"Well maybe you didn't know me as well as you think?"

They flew by Batman who was moving side to side to dodge knife strikes from the Joker who kept him on his toes with his unpredictability, some cuts on his suit already while he manage to make Joker's nose bleed again-noting that it has been injured recently before he hit it.

"Oh I haven't had this much fun with you in ages Batsy, I should kidnap your kids more often to make you this angry." Joker drawled with a laugh.

"You don't usually work with a group, what are you really after?" Batman asked with Joker jumping over him, pulling out a gun that he quickly knocked away before it shot a flag with the word bang out instead of a bullet.

" _ **Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman are en route to your position right now.**_ " Mr. Terrific's voice came through the Com link.

"I saw you having so much fun in a team I decided to give it the ol' college try." Joker said with a grin before smirking, pulling out a small bomb. "But now I'm bored so here's a little something to put a smile on your face."

His wording made Batman wary as he couldn't stop Joker from throwing it down. "Joker Venom, don't breathe!"

Joker grinned before a blur flew around the smoke, breathing it in, stopping for a moment to show Superman who quickly shot out of there making him frown. "That annoying Boy Scout, I should really start adding kryptonite to my mixture-." He was cut off by a left hook from Batman, knocking him to the ground where a golden rope lassoed around him.

Holding the rope was a young woman with raven black hair, dressed in red, white and blue Amazonian armor with a metal tiara in her hair and metal bracelets on her wrists.

"I had it handled." Batman said letting his cape close around him to hide his injuries while Wonder Woman looked amused.

"I'm sure you did." She said before glaring at Joker as the rope began to glow. "Where are the children?"

Joker began to laugh. "Why should I tell you-?" He stopped when the magic took over. "They're in a hidden base in the Grand Canyon that Grod had created for personal uses."

Shaking his head he looked at the lasso.

"As kinky as this is, this just isn't fair."

Batman looked to see that the others were just about finished with their own enemies showing that they could hurry.

* * *

A lot of unconscious Multiplex and Everywhere Man were found with the five young heroes fighting while Grodd watched them on the screen, also watching the fight with the League, seeing how Joker was forced to give up their location with the Lasso of Truth that Wonder Woman possessed.

"We should really look to getting rid of that thing." Shade mused looking at the footage. "I'm guessing we should cut our losses?"

" _ **Grodd,**_ " Another screen lit up to show a man wearing a yellow, reflective suit and a green cowl with goggles. " _ **This is the STAR Lab's team checking in, we have what we came for.**_ "

"Then rendezvous at the location I'm sending you, we're moving our base of operations," Grodd said ending the feed before getting up. "Shade if you could make our exit."

"And the sidekicks?" Shade asked his cane glowing dark.

"Already taken care of."

* * *

"I'm starting to run out of Arrows." Speedy commented, no longer keeping count of the number of bad guys she's downed, checking her quiver to find five left while she blocked a kick only for Impulse to zoom around the battlefield, tripping some of them up.

"Here you go." She said holding quite a few of the arrows, although they were the regular ones now that the trick arrows were practically used up.

"Thanks."

Feeling drained, Static saw a portion of the wall where one of Robin's birdarangs exploded in this fight to see a few wires so he quickly flew over and grabbed them to juice up and fire more blasts, magnetizing some of the duplicates to the wall.

"Just hang there and think about what you did." Static told them passing by Aqualad, using one of his Water Bearers as a shield to block some strikes, before kicking their feet out from underneath them.

"This is nuts, we'll wipe out from exhaustion before we can finish this." Robin muttered scanning the crowd before seeing something odd.

One Multiplex and one Everywhere Man looked to be struggling way in the back-more were coming from them.

Now realizing he had a view of the originals, Robin quickly acted using his grapple gun to launch himself in the air, throwing an explosive disc on the ground in front of them the blast knocking them off their feet before he threw a cryo disc to freeze Multiplex and landed on Everywhere Man knocking him out.

At once all of the duplicates fell to the floor surprising the others before they saw where Robin was giving a cheeky wave.

Snapping out of her stupor, Speedy retorted. "That only counts as two."

"I'm not complaining, I'm just glad it's done." Static commented while Impulse groaned.

"I barely did anything." She muttered before pausing as they felt a tremor.

That was when a huge figure burst through the floor grabbing Impulse and Aqualad, catching them off guard.

Everyone tensed as the figure was revealed to be Grundy who snarled and threw Impulse and Aqualad with all of his might. "Grundy smash young heroes!"

Quickly acting, Speedy shot one of her last few trick arrows to where Aqualad and Impulse were thrown towards making foam pour out for a soft landing.

But that left her open to Grundy who went to swipe at her only for electricity to blast him, making him back up. "Grundy smash lightning man."

"Dude it's easier to say Static." Static muttered flying past Grundy, eyes widening as he had to do a few spins to dodge blades and knives that Grundy pulled from his back to throw.

Impulse quickly got out of the foam and shot at Grundy, running around him punching his legs at high speeds.

Grundy snarled going to backhand her away only for Robin to catch the hand with his Grapple Gun going through it, not holding back considering this was an immortal zombie and he knew that if he or Speedy was hit once by this guy it would be over.

Aqualad ran in with a water mace and slammed it against Grundy's head before he could think of just pulling on the grapple line while Speedy shot a razor sharp arrow right into Grundy's shoulder blade to try and limit his movement but all they were doing was annoying him.

Backing up, Impulse ran in a circle before firing lightning at Grundy.

Robin raised a brow throwing an explosive disc at Grundy. "Just how many people here can use lighting?" He asked curiously.

"Grundy mad!" The zombie shouted managing to backhand Aqualad into the wall and went to tackle him but the Atlantean rolled out of the way as he barrelled into the wall.

"Nothing we're doing is working we're just pissing him off." Robin muttered in annoyance, taking cover behind some debris as Grundy ripped off a part of the wall to through towards them, Speedy taking cover with him while Static was trying to magnetize metal to Grundy to hinder him.

"Well do you have a better plan?" Speedy asked not in a challenging way but was desperate to end this fight as she was exhausted and tired, her strength was also waning showing that she needed her medication soon and she didn't want to appear weak in front of the others.

"On short of killing him as he will eventually resurrect I have nothing." Robin said not believing he said that but knew that this was a special case in Batman's no killing rule due to how it's the only way he can think of to stop Grundy and the League has done it a few times in the past.

"That's easier said than done." Speedy deadpanned.

"Think you kill Grundy?" Grundy asked hearing them with a smirk. "Grundy is unkillable."

"No you just don't stay dead." Robin quipped throwing a cryo disc to freeze him, knowing it wouldn't hold him for too long.

He was proven right as the ice began to crack.

Looking around, Robin saw the dangling wires and an idea formed in his head. "Static, how much electricity can you charge?!"

"Don't know, I haven't found a limit." Static said as he always made sure not to exhibit too much power in a fight.

"Think you can charge enough to kill him?"

"Wait what?!" Static asked in shock, not expecting for that option. "We're killing him?!"

"He's a zombie that resurrects, he'll come back sooner or later and right now it's the best idea we have at the moment.," Robin called back right as Grundy broke free and went to smash Robin only for him to be gone in a blur as Impulse got him out of there. "Thanks."

"No problem Rob." Impulse commented running at Grundy, sliding underneath him right as he smashed down, barely dodging the fists leaving him open to Aqualad to blast him with water while Static decided the plan was their best shot and grabbed the wires to charge some electricity, grimacing as he was going over his limit after a few seconds.

"I just know I'm going to regret this." Static muttered as Speedy kept him covered by bringing Grundy's attention to her firing arrow after arrow that pierced his skin, making him madder.

"Just go down dammit." Speedy shouted diving out of the way as Grundy slammed his fists where she was but the action began to shake the area having her stumble.

Impulse came in and ran up Grundy's arm kicking his face, doing a back flip as Grundy stepped back where Robin shot his grapple gun to make a line for him to trip over.

Seeing that Static was close to being ready, Aqualad covered Grundy in water right as the North Dakota hero shouted. "Out of the way!"

Dropping his grapple gun, Robin had to move quickly as Aqualad made sure the water trail didn't lead back to him while Impulse and Speedy got out of the way after Speedy shot another arrow to nail his hand to the ground.

The lights flickered as Static erupted a blast of electricity at Grundy, the water adding to the effects as Grundy screamed in agony, the sparks burning his skin.

Static stopped, falling to his knees as Grundy remained unmoving with smoke coming off of him, panting in exhaustion from the strain that put on him.

Pushing the hood down so he could see after that fight, Robin spoke. "Did it work?"

"I-I think so." Aqualad said trying to catch his breath. "We did it."

Explosions could be heard as Superman and Wonder Woman came bursting through the wall followed by Lantern who was carrying Batman, Green Arrow and Aquaman.

Flash ran in, all of them looked surprised to see the unconscious duplicates and the dead Grundy while the exhausted young heroes were sitting in different parts of the room.

"It's about time." Speedy commented earning a snort from Robin while Impulse waved at Flash who quickly ran towards her.

"Are you alright?" Flash asked looking worried.

"I'm fine, what took you so long?" Impulse asked smiling, so her Dad wouldn't worry so much.

It worked as he gave a low chuckle and hugged her.

Batman looked towards Robin, a silent conversation going between them before he nodded while Robin grinned.

"Hey you alright?" Green Arrow quickly approached Speedy who smirked.

"I took down more bad guys than Bird Boy so I'm fine."

"That's only because I was hacking while you did that." Robin called hearing her earning a friendly grin in response.

Green Arrow looked amused before he whispered in a lower tone. "Are you sure you're alright Mia?"

"Ollie I'm fine." Speedy said wincing a bit at the man who was like an adoptive father to her. "I just need to take my medicine and I'll be good."

"My King." Aqualad bowed his head when Aquaman approached him.

"There's no need for formalities between us Kaldur'ahm, are you hurt?" Aquaman asked worry in his tone.

"No just exhausted my King." Aqualad said to him.

Static gave a small smile watching the interactions between the League members and their partners. "Something wrong?" Robin asked walking over to Static to help him up.

"I'm fine, just worried what Pops will say if he wakes up before I'm home." Static chuckled leaving Robin to raise a brow.

"I'm guessing he doesn't know?" Robin asked earning a nod in return.

"No he would freak if he knew." Static said with Robin giving a nod.

* * *

Moments later they were all on the Watchtower getting checked for injuries despite saying they were alright while the League were discussing the fact that Grodd got away.

"Well that was one heck of a way to spend a night." Robin ended up breaking the silence between the five of them.

"It was fun, Dad never lets me take on any of his enemies." Impulse said in her hyper manner looking happy.

"I can't imagine why," Speedy commented dryly before kicking her feet up on the table. "But I have to agree it was fun-although I could've gone without the whole kidnapping part."

"I know what you mean, I shouldn't have been caught off guard like that." Static muttered remembering how Grodd ambushed him while he was fighting Ebon.

"Yeah I'm pretty sure Batman is probably going to be giving me extra lessons in awareness after this." Robin said rubbing the back of his head where he was hit.

"I think we should just be happy that we all got out of that alive and well." Aqualad voiced his opinion earning a nod of agreement from Robin.

"So how long do we stay here?" Static asked wanting to hurry home before his Pops wakes up and was glad that he would be able to sleep in the next morning.

"We're on the Watchtower and you want to leave?" Impulse asked in disbelief while Static shrugged.

"Sure it's cool and all but it kind of loses its charm after the second time." Static said looking out the window where they could see the Earth.

"I have to agree with Static," Aqualad had a smile. "It would be nice to see Atlantis again after all of that."

Immediately Impulse looked at him. "What's Atlantis like?" She asked eagerly.

Aqualad went to answer only for another voice to answer. "You'll have to wait to find that out because it's time you and I head home," Flash said walking towards the group. "Your Mom and brother are worried about you."

Impulse looked a bit sad that she wouldn't get to learn about Atlantis but on hearing that last part she gave a nod. "Okay," She said standing up before looking at everyone. "Hey can we do something like this again sometime?"

"No." Flash immediately said with a panicked look.

He nearly had a heart attack this last time.

As she left, the others saw their respective mentors or in Static's case escort in the form of Green Lantern, and stood up.

"Hey it was nice meeting you guys," Robin said shaking Static and Aqualad's hands with a grin. "Stay safe out there."

"You as well." Aqualad said giving a nod to Robin while Static returned the grin.

"Hey if you're ever in North Dakota look me up." He said to Robin walking off with a wave.

Robin wished he could say the same but knew Batman wouldn't allow for that.

"I still say I took out more than you Bird Boy." Speedy commented with Robin returning the competitive look.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

Green Arrow chuckled. "Just like Red Arrow and Nightwing huh?" He asked Batman who shook his head with a small smirk. "At least they're getting along."

"I bet that next time I can take out more than you." Robin challenged earning a chuckle.

"Oh we'll see." Speedy said before she leaned in and gave him a small peck on the cheek catching the Boy Wonder off guard while making Arrow stiffen at seeing something like that.

Batman just smirked at him. "At least they're getting along." He returned the Archers words right at him earning a glare.

"Shut up. You're enjoying this because I used the Batmobile as a landing pad last month aren't you?"

Robin just went red while Speedy walked off.

* * *

" _ **Recognize Batman 01. Robin B01.**_ " The Zeta Portal went off at the Clock Tower as Robin sighed a bit sore before he was surprised by Spoiler and Batgirl along with Nightwing rushing towards him.

"Oracle just told me the news." Nightwing said looking miffed that he just now found out giving Batman a look saying they would talk later but he was willing to let it rest due to how exhausted he could tell Bruce was.

Batman just looked towards Oracle who shrugged. "You didn't say anything about not telling them after he was found."

"What happened?" Spoiler asked annoyed as well that she or Batgirl didn't learn about this until recently.

"Shade ambushed me before I could head home." Robin said rubbing the back of his head, something that Batgirl was quick to notice.

"Concussion?"

"We had it checked on the Watch Tower, he doesn't have one." Batman inputted before looking at Robin. "I want a report of what happened."

"Batman he just got back from being kidnapped." Oracle said with a frown at him. "At least let him rest-."

"It's fine I should just get this out of the way." Robin said as he took a deep breath and went into an explanation of everything that happened after he was kidnapped, he could tell from Batman's scowl that the man caught onto Grodd's meaning from their short conversation.

When he got to the part about Joker though he saw Nightwing and Oracle tense while Batman's lenses narrowed, especially when Robin explained how close the clown got before the young teen looked embarrassed.

"And I might've broke his nose with my forehead." Robin looked away sheepishly.

"That explains it." Batman muttered thinking back to that.

He then explained how he found Aqualad after escaping and then locating their gear before running into Speedy in the vents and from there how they fought Marlowe to finding Static and Impulse.

"After we took down Everywhere Man and Multiplex was when Grundy came out of nowhere through the floor, he was shrugging off everything we were throwing at him and as we didn't know if the League found us yet we had to find a way to end it," Robin looked away now. "So I asked Static if he could charge up enough volts to end him knowing that he would come back eventually."

"The League has Grundy's corpse in custody and on lockdown for when he does come back along with Marlowe, Danton Black, Star Sapphire, Metallo, Killer Frost, Count Vertigo and Joker," Batman said taking it from there adding his to the mental file he had. "Grodd and the rest of his society got away."

"Still that's eight heavy hitters locked up in one night." Nightwing said looking on the bright side to this.

"Perhaps but it doesn't matter considering this was nothing more than a distraction for Grodd." Robin said earning a nod from Batman.

"We missed something-." He stopped hearing his com link come on. "Cyborg what is it?"

" _ **There was a break in at STAR Labs earlier today from Mirror Master, Heat Wave and Ebon.**_ " Cyborg's voice came in earning a frown from Batman.

"Everything so he could break into STAR Labs?" Batman muttered looking to the others. "What could he have stolen?"

Shaking his head, Batman looked at Nightwing.

"Make sure John gets home, I'm going to head back to the Watchtower to look into this," He said earning a nod as he went back towards the Zeta Portal pausing when he passed by Robin. "You did good today, take the rest of the night off."

Robin smiled from the actual compliment he just got from Batman right as he left, before Spoiler gave a light punch to his shoulder. "A compliment from the big guy? Nice."

"Yeah almost as much of a shock as the peck from Speedy." Robin said without thinking.

"What?" Spoiler asked a bit sharply while Nightwing looked surprised and amused.

"Uh right didn't I mention that?" Robin asked rubbing the back of his head before Spoiler just turned and left. "Spoiler?"

Looking from her to Batgirl, he just saw her shake her head. "Idiot." Was all she said when she left.

Robin gaped. "W-What did I do?!"

Robin looked towards Nightwing who was trying not to laugh but the older man just held his hands up. "I'm not getting involved in this one little wing."

"That's a first." Oracle quipped earning a chuckle from Nightwing who walked over to Robin and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Come on, we should get you home."

* * *

Grodd frowned as he took something apart when a shadow emerged from behind him dressed in a gray vest. "You know there's a door Ebon right?"

"I'm more interested in why you had us steal this hunk of crap." Ebon commented with Grodd sighing.

"Ah you young humans are so short sighted." He said with Ebon glaring. "It's the key to the downfall of the League."

Ebon just snorted. "Forget the League, I'm more interested in taking down that hero Static."

"And what about after that?" Grodd asked the leader of the Meta Breed-a Gang of Metahumans that were created in the Big Bang of North Dakota. "Say you destroy Static do you really think the League would let you stay out there?"

Ebon looked at him.

"Besides why kill your enemy when they can destroy each other?"

That caught Ebon's attention. "You did something to one of them?"

"Yes, I implemented a little program in one of those young Heroes minds, just say a simple word-it has to come from me and they'll do anything you want, including give information."

"Which one?" Ebon asked curiously as this was a pretty good tactic.

"Now that would be telling, and I don't particularly trust you with that piece of info." Grodd said to the living shadow. "After all you have yet to show me any trust so why should I?"

"Fair enough." Ebon said with a shrug, acting nonchalant.

Grodd just smiled before turning towards the part of DNA belonging to a certain alien. "I find it poetic that the creature that brought the League together in the first place will be responsible for their destruction."

* * *

The next evening, Robin managed to find Batgirl on the rooftop of the Clock Tower-after having to convince Batman to let him go out again after what happened the other night. "Hey BG, how's it going?" He asked making her turn her head towards him.

"Fine."

"Is Spoiler still mad at me?" Robin asked with her giving a nod. "Any way I can get you to tell me why she's mad?"

Batgirl just kept quiet.

"Alright, how about why you've been avoiding me this last week?" That made Batgirl look at him. "I mean ever since the horror movie Spoiler brought you have been making sure to not be in the same room as me, did I do something to piss you off too?"

"No." Batgirl said looking away again.

"Then why?" Robin asked curiously as he couldn't think of any other reason.

"Your name." Batgirl said surprising Robin. "Knew another person with same name."

"Well John is quite the average name." Robin said with a smile.

"He died," Batgirl said bluntly making Robin wince at his lack of tact. "First time I failed."

"Oh." Robin said a bit awkwardly now as he heard that. "I'm sorry."

"Not your fault," Batgirl said hearing that before shaking her head. "Stupid to avoid you."

Robin chuckled. "Your words not mine." He said earning a look but he knew her long enough to know she was smiling under that mask.

Then she poked his forehead. "Tag."

Robin blinked as Batgirl ran and jumped off the roof before he realized what she just did.

"Hey!" Robin ran after her, both surprised that she did something like that while his competitive nature wouldn't let him admit defeat, giving a small laugh as he jumped off the building after her.

* * *

Shriev stumbled as he was doing physical therapy to help himself walk again in his new home that he managed to get after hacking Benjamin's bank account and stealing some money as payback for firing him and to fund his creation.

Benjamin wanted to see what his creation could do at its fullest? He'll find out when he finishes weaponizing it to destroy everything he built and no one will stop him.

As he thought that, Shriev stumbled wincing in pain.

That is if he could get through his physical therapy first.

 _ **To Be Continued…**_

 _ **Alright, who expected an update on this so soon? Especially one this large?**_

 _ **Holy crap this was exhausting to type-no matter how fun it was-definitely not doing something like that again- but I'm happy I got it done and the length is one of my favorite parts. Considering there are almost no time skips in this one I think I did good.**_

 _ **But now that he escaped the Society with the other younger heroes-making some friends in the process-but danger looms ahead as it was all a distraction for Grodd's true plans and now it's revealed that he has one of the five heroes programed.**_

 _ **Who it is will be revealed in time.**_

 _ **I had some inspiration from the CW Arrow/Flash for their characters although it is Wally instead of Barry under the Flash mask but the point still stands-he might be a bit OOC when he just straight up punched Killer Frost, but I figured he did what any father worried for his daughter would do.**_

 _ **And I'm using the cartoon Titans bit-only real difference is that Red-X never existed because they had the comic adventures while the founding members were the cartoon ones.**_

 _ **Also I hope everyone likes how I wrote the Joker-first time I ever wrote him-he can fight like the one from 'The Batman' cartoon but I wanted him to look a bit like the Arkham game Joker as well as be sadistic but can tell some good jokes.**_

 _ **Now let me answer some reviews so I can post this.**_

 _ **Dark King Marcel: Thanks-is it just me or is your Fanfic Photo changing every few seconds?**_

 _ **Iwymoisiraslom: Eventually yes.**_

 _ **Bael92: Thank you, it's fun to go into the history of Batman and bring up the forgotten villains that not many people know about-let me tell you there are a lot of them.**_

 _ **Slash17: Hopefully this long chapter was good in showing the team-up between the sidekicks along with the League showing their skills in a fight-even if it wasn't focused so much on them. Hoped you enjoyed the part with Speedy (Mia Dearden) then with that small part.**_

 _ **Alright this is Spidey Signing Out!**_


	6. Chapter 6: Destructive Arms Deal

_**Chapter 06: Destructive Arms Deal**_

Robin gave a laugh while doing a solo patrol.

It's been two months since he's been kidnapped and since then Batman has trusted him to be able to take care of himself-as long as he checked in within a thirty minute interval while out there and he still left the no costumed villain rule and told him that if he ever ran into them to call him.

Those were the only conditions and he took them because to be able to actually go on patrol without anyone looking over his shoulder was great.

Jumping off a rooftop when he saw something happening in an alley, Robin gripped the edge of a fire escape and kicked off, doing a backflip to throw two birdarangs to interrupt a mugging, knocking the gun out of a guy's hands.

"Seriously do these people look like they need a third wheel?" Robin mocked as the couple ran off with him landing between where they were running and the thug.

The thug backed up a bit nervous.

Even if it was the Boy Wonder he was by himself-stupid but he didn't think he would actually run into one of the vigilantes.

Seeing his hesitation, Robin smirked and ran in making the thug back up before he jumped up, doing a spin kick to send him flying into the wall where he crumpled, unconscious.

"Not really that much of a challenge." Robin muttered with a shrug, grappling his way to the roof after that.

As he ran, Robin's mind flashed back to how the other heroes he fought with were doing.

He did keep up with them a bit-Static actually managed to send them something to allow for them to keep in contact-he called it a Shock Box for some reason-he kept it with him in and out of costume.

That was how Robin figured out that Static knew who Batman was as it was sent to Bruce Wayne.

Although he has yet to see any of them since the kidnapping he did talk with them on these Shock Box's with them sharing some form of adventures.

But Robin also figured out that Static had these sent just in case one of them were kidnapped again, so they could warn each other if the Society tries something.

Looking ahead, Robin saw something that surprised him.

It was Red Hood going toe-to-toe with a few criminals, recognizing them as Two-Face's men through how they dressed.

Deciding to have some fun-and saved these men from actually being killed as he knew Red Hood's methods by now, Robin threw two birdarangs, knocking a bat out of one of their hands while nailing another guy to the wall through his shirt sleeve. "Is this a private party or can anyone jump in?" He asked with a joke, landing behind Red Hood to kick another thug.

Red Hood frowned underneath his helmet. "Hey this is my drug bust, go find your own."

"And where is your name on busting this drug deal?" Robin challenged not even looking when he threw a birdarang at another guys hand to make him drop a gun.

"The unconscious bodies with teeth missing is my sign." Red Hood returned grabbing two men to slam their heads together.

"Not shooting them?" Robin asked curiously.

"Do I look like I want the Bat on my ass tonight?" Red Hood asked giving a glare, leaving out that he might've already killed a few drug dealers and rapists across town. "Speaking of which, where is he? I'm half expecting him to interfere because you're here."

"I'm on a solo patrol tonight." Robin told him with a grin.

That surprised Red Hood as he ran at another thug, jumping off of him to land on a dumpster and threw a few shurikens to knock them down bleeding but not dead. "Really? I would think he wouldn't let you or the last replacement do that."

"Well after the whole kidnapping by the society incident I think I proved I could handle myself." Robin said with them finishing up the last of the thugs in this drug bust.

"Kidnapping?" Red Hood asked looking at Robin who blinked as they got back to the rooftops.

"You didn't hear about this?"

"Contrary to popular belief Batman and I aren't on good terms," Red Hood said sarcastically before looking away feeling a little curious. "So what happened?

"Grodd and his little Secret Society decided to kidnap me and a few other young heroes-."

"You mean sidekicks?"

"Shut up," Robin glared at Red Hood who he swore looked amused underneath his helmet. "Anyways he kidnapped us to keep the League busy while some other criminals stole something without League interference."

"Did you find out what they stole?" Red Hood asked wondering if he should look into this.

"Batman wouldn't say." Robin muttered as he went a little silent, unsure if he should say this.

He didn't really get the chance to say anything else when Red Hood slowly turned towards him. "You're leaving something out aren't you?"

Deciding to be honest, Robin spoke. "Joker was a part of that society."

Red Hood tensed, his mind flashing back to his death with the Joker laughing in the background before looking right at him. "Was he?" He muttered under his breath thinking back to how he was practically tearing the Gotham underworld apart when he heard Joker was on the loose only for him to be caught by the League in Keystone.

Then Red Hood thought about something.

"What did he do?" He looked at Robin scanning him from head to toe to see if Joker did one of his sick games with this new replacement.

"Just tried to scare me-I think I pissed him off by breaking his nose though."

"You broke his nose?" Red Hood blinked at him at that. "Do you even realize how lucky you are that you're alive?"

Although he won't lie, the kid just won some points from him due to that fact.

"Trust me I know how lucky I am," Robin muttered remembering the fear he felt. "... He told me what he did to you though-."

"Shut up." Red Hood said harshly not wanting to talk about that and can just imagine the clown laughing as he did so. "If you say one more word I will push you off this rooftop."

Robin just went quiet not sure if he was serious or not about that last part.

"Trust me you'll survive but it'll be more satisfying for me." Red Hood told him.

"So Two-Face is making a move against Black Mask now with those drugs?" Robin said quickly changing the subject with Red Hood sighing, actually appreciating that.

"It seems so, I might look into it a bit more." Red Hood looked at Robin, thinking on something before coming to a decision. "Think you'll be available once I do?"

That surprised Robin. "Wait really?"

Red Hood frowned not sure why he even offered that as he liked to work alone ever since he came back from the grave.

Maybe it was because this kid wasn't Bruce or Dick that he offered that? Or he was probably curious in how good this kid was?

Seeing as how Red Hood wasn't saying anything else, Robin gave a nod. "I might be available, it depends on if Batman has me doing something or not."

"Good enough, I'll pick you up once I find out more." Red Hood told Robin who gave a nod agreeing to that.

"Let me guess, don't tell anyone?" Robin asked earning a nod from Red Hood.

* * *

The next morning, John was eating a bowl of cereal with a tired look while reading the paper-the headline showing a shoot-out at the Iceberg Lounge with an assassination attempt on the owner there, known as the Penguin with Batman making an appearance.

He's actually been feeling a little under the weather the last few days-probably due to the lack of sleep from his solo patrols clashing with his personal life as he has been working hard to keep his grades up.

Hearing the door open, John saw Benjamin walking out, ignoring him as he got a cup of coffee.

Knowing the routine, John slid the paper over to where Benjamin was sitting only for the man to raise a brow. "What's wrong with you?" He asked as even he could see that John was exhausted and for a second John thought he heard some concern in his tone but brushed it off as his imagination.

"All-nighter to study for a test." John lied to cover for his patrol as his photographic memory had him recall everything he needed for the test already.

Benjamin frowned a bit before giving a nod remembering the recent report card he received showed a vast improvement over the year and John hasn't once gotten in trouble this last year showing that he was finally taking everything seriously. "Very well." He said looking at the Paper, giving a frown when he saw the headline. "This world is chaotic enough as it is without people like this Batman being out there."

John looked away considering he was currently Robin and a partner to Batman.

Reading through the paper, Benjamin placed it down before taking a sip of his coffee. "I'm going to be picking you up from school today," Benjamin said taking John completely by surprise. "I think it's time I begin to show you how the company works."

Now it made sense.

John had a bit of a mixed feeling at this as while growing up, his Dad-while he didn't think much of him-told him that he was going to one day inherit the company from him. Although John figured with how Benjamin talked down on him the last couple of years that he changed his mind from that.

Either way, John didn't like the idea of running inheriting a company-or for people to see him as Benjamin's son which was what happened whenever he went to Strike Industries.

But seeing as he didn't have a choice in a matter-and a small part of him still wanted his father's approval-John gave a nod. "Alright, so you want me to wait in front of the school?"

"That would be preferable John." Benjamin said with John nodding while his father left the room.

It was only a few seconds later that John realized the man didn't call him Jonathan making him smile.

It was progress.

But he went to his room to grab his bag, making sure to turn on his com link. " _ **Yes?**_ " Bruce's voice came through to answer the call.

"I won't be available today, my Dad is going to be picking me up from school." He said to his mentor, making sure his Dad wasn't anywhere near his room so he wouldn't risk him overhearing.

Bruce was quiet for a bit before answering back. " _ **Very well, take the night off,**_ " He said surprising John. " _ **Don't think Oracle didn't tell me how tired you were yesterday.**_ "

John chuckled a bit at that.

* * *

Later that day while John was at school, Bruce was in the cave giving a frown as he was once more looking over the security footage from the break in at STAR Labs.

Once he had learned just what they stole, he made finding Grodd his top priority and the rest of the League knew it-.

The computer beeped making him frown when he saw the number.

"What is it?" Bruce asked in his Batman tone despite not wearing the cowl.

"Well hello to you too grumpy," The face of Oliver Queen popped up with his blonde hair and blue eyes showing on the screen. "Geez, it's weird hearing that tone without your cowl on."

"If you called to make comments like this I'm hanging up."

"Okay, okay geez," Oliver muttered under his breath. "I'm in Gotham chasing down a lead on a gun dealer from Star City, calls himself the Mayor and he isn't someone you want dealing weapons in Gotham."

Giving a frown, Bruce typed that in the database to bring up the file of one Xavier Reed.

While he was arrested once by Oliver in his early days this man was still dangerous and seeing the type of weapons he could get made him antsy.

If these get out on the streets, full out war will be in Gotham.

"We got intel that he would make a deal tomorrow night, Speedy will take care of it." Oliver said making Bruce frown.

"I'll handle it."

"Bruce you've been busy with Grodd and his society, Speedy can handle this."

"What about you?" Bruce challenged finding it odd at how Oliver hasn't said he would.

"I had to make a cover with Oliver Queen coming to town from Star, ended up getting pulled into a business meeting with one Benjamin Strike," Oliver said surprising Bruce with that piece of info. "And I trust Speedy to take care of herself."

"Queen this is my city." Bruce said glaring at the man as while he figured finding Grodd was of the utmost importance he always put Gotham first.

"And I respect that but Speedy isn't a Meta that you hate having in the city." Oliver snapped at him knowing how Bruce was too stubborn to accept help from people who don't live in Gotham.

He and Bruce just glared at each other before Bruce smirked. "On one condition."

Oliver blinked not expecting that, he had quite a few counter-arguments prepared to try and convince him.

"Robin goes with her."

Now Oliver was surprised and a little hesitant, no doubt remembering their last interaction with each other while Bruce leaned back in his chair with a satisfied look.

Just like Oliver, Bruce did trust Robin to handle a matter like this as the 'Mayor' wasn't really a costumed villain, in fact he was just a punk with military-grade weapons and it wouldn't be the first weapons deal Robin broke up as the two of them had handled a bit.

Oliver narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Bruce before giving a nod. "Fine, it's better for her to have someone watching her back." He conceded seeing as how this was the only way for Bruce agree without going into a large argument.

"I'll let him know tomorrow." Bruce said with a nod before ending the call, looking back at the file of Grodd.

* * *

John sat on a bench in front of the school, waiting for his Dad, knowing that he was going to be bored but he looked a bit better due to taking a nap during lunch time.

Leaning back on the bench, John pulled out the Shock Box and made a call.

" _ **Hello?**_ "

"Hey Static, it's Rob." John said feeling safe using Static's name as while it was big time in North Dakota, not a lot of people know of him in Gotham.

" _ **Oh hey, what's up?**_ " Static asked while John could hear fighting in the background.

"Nothing much, a little bored-am I interrupting something?"

" _ **Just a Bang Baby,**_ " Static answered back with the sounds of electricity being heard on his end. " _ **Calls himself Boom Box, nothing really too challenging.**_ "

"I can just imagine the jokes there." John muttered earning a laugh.

" _ **Yeah Gear said the same thing.**_ "

"Gear?"

" _ **Oh he's a friend of mine, also helps out with my Static activities.**_ " Static explained as his friend just became the hero known as Gear. " _ **Really helped me out this last week.**_ "

"Huh that's cool," John said in surprise. "So it's like how Batgirl, Spoiler and I help Batman?"

" _ **I suppose you can say it like that.**_ " Static said with a shrug on his end. " _ **Except we're the same age and he's my best pal.**_ "

John knew it was a polite way of saying that Gear wasn't a sidekick like he was. "Must be nice-," He stopped when he saw a familiar car coming. "I have to go, my Dad's pulling up and I rather not explain what this is."

" _ **Alright, talk to you later dawg.**_ " Static responded right as John put the Shock Box in his pocket and ran out right as the car came to a stop, getting in without wasting any time.

Sitting in the passenger seat, John looked over at his father who began to drive.

"I trust that school went well?" Benjamin asked while John gave a nod still not sure what exactly was going on.

He really wants to believe that his Dad is actually making an attempt but his training with Bruce has made him suspicious of a person's motives.

Eventually they made it to the Strike Industries building where John saw a few protesters considering the fact that it was a weapons company.

"Don't stare at them." Benjamin reprimanded as he had his phone out while they headed towards the building. "Get security to clear the riffraff."

"How can you stand to let your creations cause war." Someone in the crowd shouted while John winced.

It was no secret that Strike Industries was technically blood money if you think about it with how many people die in a war.

Benjamin however scoffed while passing by. "Stupid peace-loving lunatics," He muttered under his breath. "War happens regardless of my business or not."

John gave a nod actually agreeing with that.

With so many ideals and cultures out there was is always inevitable, but that doesn't mean people shouldn't strive for peace.

Looking over his shoulder he saw the peaceful protest about to turn violent when security was looking to remove them from the grounds with some of the protesters calling out their right of free speech.

The elevator doors closed before he could truly see it break out, making feel relieved while also hesitant as if it did get violent he felt the need to break it up-although he couldn't ditch his Dad to change into Robin here.

Eventually they made it to the top floor where John blinked in surprise at seeing Oliver Queen waiting along with two other individuals.

A blonde haired teen his age wearing a red hoodie and jeans while the other was a dark skinned man in a black suit, with an ear com.

"Quite the group you have down there." Oliver Queen commented looking out the window at the protesters that were being escorted off the premises.

"People will protest anything these days." Benjamin said giving a slight cough before holding out his hand. "Shall we get this meeting underway?"

"Probably for the best." Oliver said with a smile-one that John could easily tell was fake and had him on edge. "But first this is my adopted daughter Mia Dearden and Diggle my bodyguard."

"Sir." John Diggle greeted while Benjamin raised a brow.

"Expecting trouble?"

"Can't hurt to be careful." Oliver said with a straight face.

"True, this is my son Jonathan." Benjamin said motioning for John to walk up.

"Nice to meet you." John said politely while Oliver shook his hand.

John hid a frown as something about Oliver seemed familiar.

"Follow me to my office," Benjamin said before glancing at John. "Why don't we leave the kids here while we take care of business?"

John blinked before now realizing why he was brought here, Benjamin wanted him to befriend Mia because it could be beneficial to the deal if he did and from how Oliver frowned, John saw that the man figured it out and didn't like it.

Feeling a bit down at how Benjamin just proved he didn't bring him here to extend an olive branch, John gave a nod.

"Diggle, do you mind waiting out here with them?" Oliver asked his bodyguard-playing it off like he wanted him to watch over his adoptive daughter but it was mostly because something about John bothered him which had him on edge and he didn't trust Mia along with him at the moment.

So once Benjamin and Oliver went behind the closed doors, John rubbed the back of his head while turning to Mia and Diggle.

"So how long do you think before the deal fails with how my Dad is?" John asked in a joking tone, hoping to break the ice.

Mia gave him a weird look. "Shouldn't you be hoping that this deal happens?" She asked while John blinked at her voice.

It sounded familiar.

But he shrugged. "Probably but I can already tell that Mr. Queen doesn't like my Dad-easy to see with his… Bright and colorful personality."

Diggle raised his brow at his description. "You call that bright and colorful?"

"I'm a little biased." John said with a cocky grin, making Mia's eyes widen as she remembered that grin.

"Oh is that so?" Mia asked looking around, an idea forming in her head. "Hey where are the cameras?"

"They're all inside the office, Dad doesn't care for what happens here-." John's eyes widened when he threw his hand up to catch a kick from Mia while Diggle got up in surprise that she did that.

Not deterred, Mia got out of his grip and threw a few well-timed punches that John blocked before he kicked her back and did a backflip, getting into a fighting position forgetting that he wasn't in costume making Mia smirk while Diggle finally got between them giving her a stern look.

"Mia, what the hell?" Diggle asked looking at her.

"I thought you were familiar Robin." Mia said with John tensing at how someone figured it out while Diggle now looked towards John in surprise.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Dad had me take self-defense classes-." John tried to bluff his way before Mia grinned.

"Oh so you're not going to say anything if I tell you that I still took out more bad guys than you?"

At that, John looked at her with narrowed eyes. "Speedy?!"

"Got it in one." Mia said sitting down.

Realizing that he just confirmed her suspicions, John groaned. "Great, Batman is going to grill me for this." He muttered at how easily someone just figured out his identity before frowning. "What would you do if you were wrong?"

Mia shrugged. "Said you tried something."

"That's messed up." John deadpanned at her before his eyes widened. "Wait a second does that make Oliver Queen the Arrow?"

Diggle gave a sigh and looked at Mia. "If he asks I'm telling him it was you."

"It's fine that means that Benjamin is Batman." Mia said while John chuckled.

"Nope, Batman is someone else-Dad has no idea about me being Robin." John said with Mia frowning, knowing he was telling the truth.

"Damn, I was so sure," Then she thought about the beard that Benjamin had. "Now I feel like an idiot."

"Wait is Oliver really here for a business deal or is something else happening?" John asked curiously.

Diggle looked as if he wasn't sure whether to answer or not as he only spoke with the people on Oliver's team back in Star City like Roy or Felicity.

Mia however gave a grin. "Arms Dealer from Star came to Gotham, Oliver is letting me take care of it." She said crossing her arms while John raised a brow.

"So he isn't being all overprotective on you like how Aquaman and Flash are to their partners?"

"Nope." Mia said although she also had a frown at that as she kept up with Aqualad, Impulse and Static as well.

Diggle finally sighed. "You just can't make normal friends can you?" He asked looking at Mia who grinned.

"Normal is boring." She commented while motioning holding a bow. "Plus I'm a straight shooter with abnormal stuff."

Diggle shook his head at the 'arrow' joke.

"Does Batman even know you guys are in town?" John asked tilting his head to the side. "Because let me tell you he is a bit against other heroes in his city."

"Ollie said that he called Batman this morning," Mia said with a shrug. "So what is there to do in Gotham while we're here?"

"Practically the same in every big city if you can ignore the psychopaths out there." John said thinking on it.

"We have a lot in Star City." Mia countered to that as John gave her that one, remembering hearing about the Doll Maker, Music Meister and Clock King that inhabit that city.

* * *

That night, John sighed while in his room considering how he was taking the night off from being Robin.

Although the last thing he expected for that day would be meeting Speedy outside of costume and for her to find out easily who he was.

"I really need to work at keeping my identity more of a secret," John muttered having his domino mask out. "Maybe a full face mask?"

He tried to image a costume that would fit with the Robin persona but allow for a full face mask, maybe a bit of black and red? He could run it with Bruce sometime.

Then there was the fact that he subconsciously blocked her hits which gave his identity away.

"I'll have to work on that." John muttered, placing the mask back in the hiding spot he used for his costume before turning his X-Box on to play some Dead Space, intent on enjoying his night off while he can.

* * *

"Wait what?" Robin asked in surprise the next evening while he was on the com link with Batman.

" _ **You are to meet up with Speedy and assist in taking down the Mayor,**_ " Batman repeated with Robin blinking. " _ **I would do it myself but I'm busy.**_ "

"With Grodd?" Robin asked not getting an answer. "Alright, send me the coordinates and I'll head over there."

Moments later, Robin landed on the rooftop where he saw Speedy looking through a pair of binoculars towards the docks where the deal was taking place. "So tell me," Speedy began not looking towards him as Oliver did warn her that morning that Robin would show up. "What is it with bad guys and making deals in either warehouses or the docks?"

"Honestly I have no clue," Robin said using a function on his mask that works like binoculars to keep on lookout as well. "Maybe it's a rule in the super villain handbook?"

After a few moments, Speedy looked at him. "So, did the big bad Bat find out more about why were were kidnapped?"

"If he did and I'm pretty sure he has he didn't tell me," Robin said still looking towards the docks. "He'll probably take care of it with the League."

That made Speedy groan. "And leave us sidekicks out of it while they do so," She muttered before perking up. "Hey what if we do our own investigation with the others?"

Blinking, Robin turned his binocular function off and turned to look at her. "By others do you mean Impulse, Static and Aqualad?"

"No I meant the Nuclear Family, who else do you think?" Speedy asked before getting serious. "We were the ones kidnapped, so we have a right to know."

Robin was silent for a bit before he spoke. "Let me see if I have this straight, you want to investigate looking into a Society full of criminals that give the Justice League trouble with only five teenage heroes-hell one of them isn't even a teen yet?"

"Geez you make it sound like we haven't been trained," Speedy said with a look "And it's better than being kept in the dark."

Robin had to give her that before he stopped. "Hold on," He zoomed back in on the docks. "They arrived."

Speedy looked back in as well to see quite a few more cars coming. "Finally some action."

"That the Mayor?" Robin asked seeing a dark skinned man wearing sunglasses along with a black jacket.

"That's him." Speedy confirmed, reaching back to mentally count her arrows. "Now who is the buyer?"

"I think I see-oh no," Robin muttered at seeing a man a bit on the chubby side walking towards the Mayor in a black suit with a long nose and a monocle over his eye, using an umbrella as a cane followed by two oriental women in red wearing gloves with daggers coming out of them. "It's the Penguin."

"The who?" Speedy asked with a weird look as you have to be from Gotham to hear of some of the rogues considering they tend to not leave the place.

"He's been one of Batman's enemies since his second year of being a Vigilante, also one of the top crime bosses in Gotham who owns his own set of businesses at odds with Black Mask and Two Face in an effort to rule Gotham," Robin summarized quickly for her. "He's actually a pretty good friend of the Joker surprisingly enough and can hold his own against Batman, his umbrella is also a gun, I need to call this in."

"What?" Speedy looked at him like he was crazy.

"Batman has one rule for me out here no costumed criminals and it's not just Penguin there, I can see the Kabuki Twins down there," Robin said seeing how they can have a lot of trouble by themselves. "Too many for the two of us to take on by ourselves-."

"Sorry but not happening," Speedy quickly grabbed the com link from Robin before he could make the call and jumped off the roof they were on to the neighboring one. "Come on are you just going to listen to the Bat forever?"

"It's not about listening it's about not being in over our heads." Robin snapped at her not wanting to risk being fired from doing this.

"We weren't when we fought Grundy, Multiplex and Everywhere Man." Speedy pointed out annoyed at the fact that Robin felt like they needed help when they had this covered between the two of them.

"We had two Metas and an Atlantean helping us that was different."

"So you're chicken?"

Robin just glared. "Really?" He asked at hearing that.

"How else can you prove that you can hold your own if you don't try?" Speedy asked before running off towards the deal.

Robin just watched her and sighed. "Well I can't really call Batman without the Com Link." He muttered taking off after her.

Seeing as how the criminals went inside of the warehouse on the docks, the two vigilantes easily snuck in through the skylight, taking care that they chose a side to not have their shadows give away their position.

"You know I'm taking quite the risk in coming out here tonight," The Penguin said walking-his short size making him waddle instead-around the Mayor, both sides having weapons drawn. "The goods better be well worth it."

"I only sell the best," The Mayor said with a grin as his men unloaded a huge metal container. "Now do you want a demonstration or skip to the sale?"

"I'd rather know if it works before I give any money away." Penguin told him as the man went to open the container but an arrow and a birdarang embedded itself into the container, surprising them.

"You should keep the money Ozzy," Robin quipped holding two more discs while Speedy had another arrow notched. "It'll do much better paying your bail money if you can find a good lawyer."

"Just the bird boy and a girl playing archer?" Penguin asked in disbelief. "Isn't it past your bedtime kids?!"

The Mayor however turned to his men. "What are you waiting for?!" He shouted thinking that if Speedy was there, Green Arrow, Red Arrow and Spartan weren't too far behind. "Kill them!"

Both Robin and Speedy smirked at each other as the men brought out semi-automatic weapons before Robin threw the discs, smoke blasting out while the other was a flashbang along with Speedy letting the trick arrow fly, landing on the ground before pressing a button as the guns were wrenched out of their hands towards the arrow.

"A magnet arrow?" Robin asked jumping down there, taking two men out with Speedy shooting an arrow filled with knockout gas at a group of four. "That's actually a pretty good one."

"You saying some of the trick arrows aren't that good?" Speedy asked doing a spin kick on a thug that got too close.

Robin just looked at her while slamming a fist back on a guy behind her. "Need I bring up the chimney sweep arrow?" He asked with Speedy rolling her eyes.

"Hey that actually comes in handy when we have to go down a chimney to sneak into a place." She said as it was a lot more useful than a person thought.

Robin went to say something else only to give out a cry when something slashed through his upper arm making him grip it as one of the Kabuki Twins landed in front of him.

Ignoring the slight pain in his arm, Robin blocked the daggers with a birdarang, while slamming his knee in her stomach, leaving her open for the gadget in his other hand which he stuck to her forehead as it let out an electric shock knocking her unconscious.

While he dealt with her, the other Kabuki Twin went to stab his head but Speedy shot an arrow with an egyptian head instead of an arrow head. As it hit the Kabuki Twin, wires shot out, wrapping her up in a way her daggers were rendered useless as she fell to the ground.

Penguin saw that and went to run but Robin smirked and threw a bola.

"You're right, we had this handled." Robin said with a chuckle as this was pretty easy so far.

The Mayor however smirked and discretely pressed a button on the container right when Speedy aimed a trick arrow at him.

"It's over Reed," Speedy said with a smirk. "You have no options."

"Oh but I do my young Archer," The Mayor said with a smirk as smoke hissed out on the crate behind him making the heroes tense, while Penguin looked up from messing with the bola. "The weapon I'm selling, Mr. Cobblepot did want a demonstration of what it could do."

As the container opened up, a huge figure stood up, stepping out with a loud stomp that shook the warehouse while the two young heroes unconsciously took a step back as the figure was revealed to be a huge-hulking figure that looked shirtless, wearing green pants with an A on the belt, red, glowing eyes and pointed ears.

"A-Amazo." Robin whispered at the Android with the powers of the whole league while Speedy calmly passed Robin back his com link.

"Yeah now I agree we'll need back-up." Speedy said trying not to act scared but even she was unsure about this.

Amazo gave a roar as he slammed his two fists on the ground , causing cracks to appear that knocked the heroes off their feet while Robin quickly turned his com link on.

"Oracle-." He cursed when he heard static and realized that Amazo was somehow disabling their coms. "No good we're on our own."

"Access Flash." Amazo spoke in a robotic tone before he was gone in an instant, making the two tense. "Access Superman."

Hearing that behind them, both Heroes moved, barely dodging a punch that made a crater.

Robin threw two discs that Amazo caught but they billowed out smoke while Speedy was shooting the more lethal arrows as this was an android right as it switched to Red Tornado's powers in an attempt to blow out the smoke but the arrow made it grimace.

While one of the arrows imbedded itself into Amazo's shoulders, Robin ran in through the smoke delivering a kick to Amazo but the android caught his leg and threw him right into a box making him cry out from the force of the throw.

What Amazo didn't know was that before he jumped up there, Robin planted a sticky bomb to his foot that blew up.

"Did that stop him?" Speedy asked only for heat vision to nearly take her head off, burning her hood to where she had to toss her cloak.

"That answer your question?" Robin asked out in pain with Amazo jumping out, his leg damaged to show robotics. "All I did was slow him down, he can't use Flash's speed anymore."

"That's one good news." Speedy muttered firing another magnet arrow that made Amazo fly back before he destroyed it. "Any tips? I mean Batman does have a file on him right?"

"Same weak points as a human being so the eyes, ears, nose and mouth are his weakness." Robin told her using his grapple, to get to hire ground with Speedy shooting an arrow to join him as it reeled her in. While he thought that was a stupid function he was relieved it was in, maybe Ivo wanted to ensure the Android wouldn't turn against him?

While that was going on, Penguin used his umbrella to cut himself free and cut free the Kabuki Twin that Speedy took care of for her to carry her sister.

"If that blasted machine does kill them I'll buy it," Penguin snapped to the Mayor who was watching. "I'm not staying with the noise this is making, Batman will be here in no time."

"Suit yourself." The Mayor said wanting to watch the two heroes get crushed while Amazo leapt up.

"Access Canary." Amazo gave a sonic scream that destroyed the walkway, forcing the sidekicks back to the ground. "Access Su-."

A trick arrow full of sludge slammed into his face. "Shut it." Speedy snarled while Robin took advantage of that, guessing it was flammable and threw an exploding disc, erupting Amazo's head in flames but it shot at them, it's face melted off. "What is this thing, the Terminator?!"

"Probably where Ivo got the idea from." Robin said throwing more smoke bombs to give them some cover, running out of the warehouse right as Amazo burst through the wall.

* * *

Back at the Clock Tower, Stephanie gave a yawn while she stretched, a towel around her neck while dressed in a simple shirt and sweatpants. "So how did I do?" She asked as she spent the next few days training her fighting skills along with Cassandra who wore a sleeveless shirt while having her hands wrapped up.

"Still need practice." Cassandra said simply while Stephanie just gave her a look.

"Compared to you of course I do," Stephanie said with Cassandra smirking. "I meant compared to other people?"

"Robin come in," Both girls stopped when they heard Oracle on the computer. "I repeat, Robin come in. Damn."

"Oracle? What's wrong?" Stephanie asked walking towards her as the redhead was typing furiously on the computer. "Did something happen?"

"Batman had John accompany Speedy on a weapons bust but their coms went down," Oracle said Stephanie tensing a bit when Speedy was mentioned. "I can't get an answer from either of them or a video of what's happening?"

"Send us in?" Cassandra asked with Oracle looking at them.

"Couldn't hurt to check," Oracle said as the lack of visuals and answers had her worried. "I would call Batman but he's busy looking into Grodd."

Cassandra gave a nod and went to get her suit while Stephanie had a frown on her face-one that Oracle noticed.

"Steph? What's wrong?" Oracle asked in worry while Stephanie blinked before looking away.

"Nothing."

Oracle gave a smirk. "This wouldn't happen to be the fact that John is with Speedy right?"

"Of course not." Stephanie said a bit quickly.

"Sure it isn't," Oracle said sounding amused before getting back to her typing. "Want some advice?"

Stephanie kept quiet but looked at Oracle with a raised brow.

"John is one of those boys that can't tell if a girl likes them unless it's pointed out to them, trust me I've dated my fair share of them," Oracle said thinking about her past romance with Nightwing back when he was Robin and she was Batgirl before they broke up. "You just have to show them instead of hinting."

Batgirl entered back into the room with a tilted head while holding Spoiler's suit, no doubt wondering why Stephanie hasn't changed yet.

"Just think on it and go check in on them." Oracle said not saying anything else on the matter.

"No sweat, we go in and check on them," Stephanie said with her arms crossed with a grin. "How much trouble could those two be in?"

* * *

"We are in so much trouble," Robin shouted as Amazo punched through one of the shipping containers. "I blame you!"

The only reason neither of them were dead was because they damaged Amazo's foot and face-thereby messing up some diagnostics. Not only that but it wasn't the true Amazo as it didn't have every power from the League showing, just a poor copy but it was extremely dangerous to the two non-powered heroes.

"How was I supposed to know they had freaking Amazo?!" Speedy shouted back as Amazo caught the two arrows only for them to blow up, destroying the 'skin' on its hands.

Giving a frown, Robin looked past Amazo to see the Mayor deciding to leave the area. "Speedy get the Mayor, I have this."

Speedy gave a start, not wanting to let the Mayor get away but she was hesitant on leaving Robin with Amazo.

"Trust me, I have a plan." Robin said with Speedy giving a nod and ran off at the Mayor while he threw a disc at Amazo to keep his attention. ' _Or I'm making stuff up as I go along, that works too._ '

Why did he just give Speedy the easy job?! … Oh right they couldn't let the Mayor get away otherwise this would be for nothing.

As a lot of Amazo's skin was torn off, Robin could see quite a few wires on the robot, wires he could pull and theoretically end this fight by shutting him down.

Of course that meant getting close to the super powered android who could kill him more than a hundred different ways as it's wary of his birdarangs now so he can't use them to cut the wires.

"I better not get fired for this." Robin muttered running right at Amazo, throwing another smoke bomb.

Amazo quickly blew the smoke away but frowned as Robin seemed to have disappeared-.

It felt weight land on its back. "These look important." Robin commented pulling on the wires while he placed another sticky bomb on them, kicking off with a backflip as Amazo tried to reach back, it's diagnostics so screwed up that it didn't notice the added weight of the sticky bomb before it spun around catching Robin in the ribs with a backhand before he could get out of reach, making him cry out as he was sent flying right into a shipping container with enough force to dent it.

Sliding down feeling pain, Robin gave a smirk despite that right as the sticky bomb beeped and blew up, destroying the upper portion of Amazo's body as it fell over with oil leaking out.

' _Thank God that worked._ ' Robin thought trying desperately to not pass out as his ribs felt like they were broken.

If it wasn't for the suit he was wearing-he would most likely be dead because it absorbed most of the impact from both the hit and slamming into the shipping container.

But he would be down for awhile.

Speedy meanwhile landed on the hood of the Mayor's car. "Don't think so." She said with an arrow aimed at him.

As the Mayor was about to make a move, Speedy let the arrow go, showing it to be a bit of a Taser as it let out an electrical shock that downed the man.

"Should've hit him first to avoid this whole mess," Speedy muttered hearing the explosion and turned to see Amazo destroyed while Robin was sitting against a dented container, hunched over as if-. "Robin!"

Robin looked up with a pained grin right as Speedy reached him. "Remind me to never do something like that again." He voiced as Speedy helped him, with him having an arm around her neck for support as his ribs were protesting.

" _ **Robin?!**_ " Oracle called in hearing his voice. " _ **Finally I'm able to get through what happened?**_ "

"The Mayor is apprehended but Penguin got away," Robin said through the comlink, hearing Speedy say the same thing on her com link. "And we have what's left of Amazo here."

" _ **Amazo?**_ " Oracle asked in disbelief at hearing that now understanding why the coms were down. " _ **I'm calling Batman, Spoiler and Batgirl are en route to your position.**_ "

"Roger that Oracle, copy and out."

"See you soon Overwatch." Speedy said on her end before looking at Robin as she helped him out of the area. "Well Ollie is probably going to blow a gasket when he hears about Amazo."

"Him? Batman is going to make sure I never go on patrol again." Robin joked before both Spoiler and Batgirl landed nearby. "Hey guys, this is Speedy. Speedy this is Spoiler and Batgirl."

"Hey there." Speedy greeted with a grin, not sure if they were returning it as they both had full face masks on.

Batgirl gave a nod of greeting before looking at Robin and from how her stance was, Robin knew what she was asking.

"Oh turns out the weapon was Amazo and it managed to backhand me at the last possible second before we blew it up." Robin explained and he could just see the frown that Batgirl had at hearing that.

"Here you got him?" Speedy asked as she had to head back now because her com just went off.

" _ **Mia, what's this I hear about Amazo?**_ "

"I got him." Spoiler said helping Robin who winced in pain.

"Thanks, Arrow is about to lay into me," Speedy joked switching the coms off as she knew she was definitely going to get a lecture. "Hey Rob thanks for the backup."

"It's no problem, you clearly needed it." Robin joked earning a mock glare from Speedy.

"Oh like you could handle that yourself?"

"Touche, I'm glad neither of us had to." Robin said with Speedy laughing as she took off.

"So that's Speedy?" Spoiler asked while Robin shrugged, wincing from the action. "Come on we better get you patched up."

* * *

Batman was not happy as he was glaring at John who had the upper part of his costume off to show his chest was badly bruised.

Luckily he didn't have any broken ribs-they were cracked so it meant no being Robin for a few days until they healed and Oracle was just finishing patching him up.

"What part of no costumed criminals did you not understand?" Batman asked while Oracle had Spoiler and Batgirl leave the room to give them some privacy.

"Sorry." John muttered looking down. "Speedy and I thought we had it handled."

Batman frowned wondering if it was Speedy who did something or if it was John who disobeyed the order.

But his frown disappeared when he looked him over. "I'll drop some painkillers off in your room tomorrow morning, the ones you just took should get you through the night," He said to him with John giving a grin that made the man frown again. "Let me be clear you were lucky that you made it out of there alive."

"Alright Bruce I think he gets it," Oracle intervened knowing that Batman was just worried about John, especially after hearing about Amazo being there. "Besides I can count the number of times you've done something just as reckless."

Batman shifted his glare to Oracle who seemed unaffected due to the years of working with the man.

"I'll get Stephanie to walk John home." Oracle handed John his civvies. "Just leave the suit here for the next few days alright?"

"Okay." John said watching as she took the upper part of the suit away, leaving him in the room with Batman again.

Batman sighed and took his cowl off. "I know that sometimes things out of your control can happen," He said to him. "But there's a reason I give these rules."

"I know Bruce," John said looking down, remembering Joker's gloating grin when he was captured. "And I appreciate it but I'm not a kid."

"No, you're not." Bruce muttered remembering how Dick and Jason were as kids compared to who they are now.

Tim and John however were already teenagers when they became Robin.

After some time, Bruce quickly pulled his cowl back on his head intent on getting back to his investigation. "I'm going to look to see where Reed obtained Amazo." He said with John giving a nod, getting an idea of what his mentor was thinking.

"You think the Society is involved?" John asked earning a nod of approval from Batman.

"Until I rule it out I'm going on the assumption that they're involved." Batman said leaving the room, closing the door so John could change.

A moment later, John gingerly walked out of the room to see Stephanie waiting for him.

"You ready?" Stephanie asked with a grin that John returned.

"So how was the spar between you and Cass?" John asked the two of them walking through the streets, knowing that Stephanie had her Spoiler costume on underneath the clothes she was wearing so she could take the rooftops on the way back. "I would've watched but B had plans already set for me."

"How do you think it went?" Stephanie asked with a raised brow while John sheepishly scratched the side of his cheek. "But I did a lot better this time at least."

"... Think we can win if we double-team against Cass?" John suggested earning a snort.

"Honestly she would still kick our asses," Stephanie said in good humor with John giving a nod of agreement now that he thought about it. "So you keep in contact with Speedy?"

John blinked not sure what to say considering the last time he mentioned Speedy, Stephanie didn't talk to him for a week before deciding the best answer. "Static sent a com link to keep in contact with everyone who was involved with the Society," He said making Stephanie nod. "So I pretty much keep in contact with them."

"Look at you with your own team." Stephanie teased as Dick was the leader of the Titans and Tim used to be a part of the New Teen Titans-or Young Justice, they kept changing the name.

"We're not a team, we're just five strangers who got pulled into a mess together." John muttered not really sure about that himself as he didn't really think of them as a team.

"Lighten up, I'm just teasing." Stephanie said with a playful punch to the arm, taking care not to aggravate his ribs.

John just laughed a bit. "I know," He said hiding the wince as laughing did hurt. "It's going to be boring not going out though."

"How about we make it not boring?" Stephanie suggested, earning a questioned gaze from John.

"Oh?"

"Yeah we never hung out unless it was training or on patrol, so how about we just be normal for fun these next few days?" Stephanie asked.

John blinked and cupped his chin in thought.

Truthfully that would be better than confining himself to his room, playing his video games.

"Sure why not," John had a grin at her. "It'll be fun to be normal for a bit."

"Great, it's a date."

When Stephanie said that John stopped, blinking as he registered that. "Wait, what?" He asked a bit, his mind thinking over those particular choice of words.

Stephanie grinned slyly, looking back at him. "I said, it's a date."

John's mind flashed back to how she reacted when Speedy gave him that peck to how she ignored him-plus the jokes they shared when they sparred-.

' _She's been flirting with me._ ' John realized wide-eyed, now making sense of what was happening.

"S-Sure." John said his face heating up.

Pretty soon they made it to the apartment complex where John lived as the teen now looked nervous.

"S-So see you tomorrow." John said with a weak chuckle.

Stephanie just rolled her eyes with a smirk at how he was acting. "You get flustered a bit too easily." She said before smirking as an idea came to her.

John just looked to the side at that as he didn't really have any experience with girls liking him-which was why he got embarrassed real easily like with Speedy playfulness-which haven't really gone any further than that small peck or Stephanie's flirting.

John's mind went blank when Stephanie leaned in a kissed his cheek with a grin thinking that there's no way John could be dense enough to have that go past him.

* * *

John's mind was still blank when he entered his bedroom and laid down, being careful to lay down gently.

His Dad was thankfully still asleep and his training has made him an expert at sneaking and going without Benjamin being any wiser-plus living here he knew just where every creak and groan in the floor was to avoid them.

But his mind was just replaying the moment when when Stephanie kissed him and then with Spe-no Mia.

John groaned and covered his face with his hands.

What does he do-?

John's eyes lit up and he sat up looking at his phone.

It was late, but maybe he was still up?

Taking a deep breath, John typed in the number and waited as it rang before it picked up to hear gunfire. " _ **This better be fucking important!**_ " Jason shouted as he returned fire.

"Jason? It's John." John said a bit unsure if this was a good idea now.

He could hear curses on the other end. " _ **I would ask how the fuck you got my number but considering you're training under Bruce that should be answer enough,**_ " Jason muttered, taking cover. " _ **What do you want?!**_ "

"I well," John sighed and leaned back in his bed. "I need advice."

It got quiet, the only reason John knew that Red Hood hasn't hung up was because of the gun fire before it got quiet. " _ **Let me see if I'm hearing this right, you're calling me for advice?**_ " Jason asked in disbelief as there were now dead drug dealers at his feet.

"Well I already know Bruce is the worst person to go with this because as much as I respect him he's as sociable as a rock-and that's insulting the rock," John commented earning a slight chuckle. "I'd rather not get teased by Dick and I can't really ask anyone else."

Jason sighed. " _ **Alright, what is it?**_ "

"It's on girls-."

" _ **No fuck that,**_ " Jason said immediately his tone dead serious as he was now certain that John was insane. " _ **I am not giving you dating advice, what do I look like a hormonal teenager?**_ "

"Well I'm sorry that my Dad isn't the most reliable source for asking advice on this." John said sarcastically. "Come on, I really need advice."

" _ **What about Alfred? I'm pretty sure he'll give even better advice than me,**_ " Jason snapped at him. " _ **What possessed for you to ask me of all people?!**_ "

"I already listed the reasons earlier." John returned trying not to raise his voice as the last thing he needed was waking his Dad up.

Then he stopped at hearing the dial tone.

"Hello?" John asked before sighing. "Thanks Jay, you're a real help."

Then he sighed.

Maybe it was a bit weird to ask Jason of all people for advice.

* * *

"It's too bad we couldn't come to an agreement on our deal Mr. Queen," Benjamin said shaking Oliver's hand the next morning as both John and Mia were standing nearby with Diggle. "We could've made a lot of progress."

"Always next time," Oliver said with a forced smile making a not to have the 'business meeting' with Bruce as he didn't like Benjamin at all. "Sorry for wasting your time."

Benjamin gave a nod to be polite but even he knew that Oliver wasn't sorry at all.

With that said, Benjamin walked into his office but he looked at John. "I won't be able to give you a ride home Johnathan." He said simply before heading into his office.

John just rolled his eyes. "Thanks Dad love you too, have a great day." He said sarcastically with Mia giving him a quirked brow.

"Seriously you live with that every day?"

"He's still my Dad." John said with a shrug.

"Take it from me, blood doesn't make you family." Mia said a bit darkly, remembering her own father while John raised a brow.

Oliver gave Mia a worried look before giving a nod to John. "We'll have to go before we miss our flight," He said before smiling at John. "Thanks for looking after Speedy last night."

That surprised John who gave a look to Mia making her raise her hands in defense. "I didn't say anything."

"She didn't have to." Oliver said not saying he had Overwatch run a background search on John to find out just why the teen was bothering him and after some digging Overwatch noticed quite a few similarities between John and the latest Robin, a small conversation with Diggle confirmed the suspicions. "Let's just say Batman isn't the only one to figure stuff out."

John gave him that one before smiling as he watched Oliver, Diggle and Mia leave the latter giving him a lazy wave good-bye.

When they left, John chuckled, rubbing his aching chest where the bindings were to lessen the pain.

It was hard not to show weakness in front of other people, just how does Bruce do it?

 _ **To Be Continued...**_

 _ **Yet another chapter in the Red X story now called Volume 0: Origins. The reason for the title change was simple. I decided this particular story will end when John finally dons the Red-X mask.**_

 _ **The story will only have 15 Chapters at most or 10 in the least as I want to show a few things about his adventures as Robin and then Volume 01 will be showcasing his time as Red-X.**_

 _ **Now I want to apologize for not being on here for a bit as there was another personal loss in the family-not a pet but my Grandma so I was in the slumps for a bit, especially since we did just see her a few weeks ago looking happy. I just couldn't focus after that, so I apologize for the abrupt absence.**_

 _ **Back to the story, I hope everyone enjoyed John's growth as Robin so far as well as hints of him forming his own team later on-that will have its own story after the Volume 01 part of Red-X considering that will be his rise as a solo hero, but now we had him and Speedy fight freaking Amazo-but it wasn't the real one as the real one would be able to kill them in seconds at this point.**_

 _ **Not only that but quite a bit was shown with John and Jason getting along a bit better. Finally you see a bit of Strike Industries and the challenges there with it being a weapons company. I bet a lot of people hate Benjamin even more considering he basically just used John am I right?**_

 _ **Now let me get to the reviews.**_

 _ **Dark King Marcel: Haha thanks, it was a lot of fun to type.**_

 _ **Nightmaster000: Thanks, I liked how they did the Light in YJ so I wanted to do something a little similar with the Society. And that chapter was also to show how far John came as Robin in putting him together with four other heroes/sidekicks compared to when he started showing that he can fight alongside powered beings like his mentor/predecessors. Also I love Static Shock and the original Teen Titans cartoon as they were amazing, so I wanted to add them into this timeline. Bruce is paranoid and worried but even he knows that sometimes things happen that are outside of his control… Within reason. Yes Slade will show an interest in John but only when he's Red-X as I have a lot of plans for Slade. Huh, I never considered Terra but that would be fun. Yes he will be gathering his own Rogues Gallery, have a few of them decided and as for the Nyx idea-I was kind of toying with having her as a sometimes friend/enemy in the story-the new origin sounds cool, but I'll have to run it with the person helping me with this story as it started as a challenge and he and I run ideas off of each other to write this-it's probably why it keeps going so far.**_

 _ **Coldblue: Yeah I was surprised myself in how fast I updated that one. Yeah I wanted for John and Joker to actually meet one-on-one there for a moment without Batman interfering-again my first time typing the Joker so I was happy with how it turned out-not much of a time skip but like I said this story will end when John becomes Red-X. Yes Spoiler is more of a Tim Drake love interest but her liking John is a part of the challenge that I partook when I started this story. The Villains do make the hero as well, I always felt that Grodd and Ebon had a lot of potential to be big time villains and they squandered Grodd in the Justice League cartoon-although it was hilarious when his plan was revealed, especially when Luthor just shot him because of it and Ebon was still cool but they never did use him to his full potential.**_

 _ **Now for your Questions. 1) Either Chapter 10 or 15 and this story will end, leaving me to plan out Volume 01. 2) Yes that will show in the next chapter as John realized his muscle memory can work against him in this chapter. 3) Eventually yes but Deathstroke/Slade won't appear until Volume 02 because he will be one of the main villains in this story.**_

 _ **DannyPhantom619: Thank you and I'm happy you enjoyed that.**_

 _ **Kival737101: I didn't use Artemis because she's been used a lot lately due to her popularity in YJ-not that I hate her as I think she's badass but I wanted to use some of DC's more forgotten characters like Mia the second Speedy along with Irey West the second Impulse-you know the ones who were technically forgotten because of the reboot? As for the final pairing that will be revealed in time because I have a lot of ship-tease moments.**_

 _ **Bael92: Nope, this whole story will be him as Robin before the sequel will show him as Red-X.**_

 _ **Iwymoisiraslom: Yes Tim Drake will go back to being Robin eventually because I think he's an awesome Robin. John's thing as he gets better will be his unpredictability as he's been doing some crazy things in his fights-spitting in Batman's face during the spar, throwing a trash can at goons and actually jumping on Amazo's back to plant explosives instead of tossing them. I always thought Jason was the best combatant due to his brutal fighting style to be honest.**_

 _ **Slash17: Thank you and hopefully you keep enjoying this.**_

 _ **Matt: Yup she does and I like writing the typical 'clueless' hero, it's funny.**_

 _ **Alright that's enough out of me, this is Spidey Signing Out!**_


	7. Chapter 7: Improvement

_**Chapter 07: Improvement**_

John messed with his hair a bit, giving a frown as it looked worse.

"Maybe I need a haircut." He muttered as it's been getting a bit long.

It's been a week since that mess with Amazo and so far his ribs were healing up, still not a hundred percent but much better then they were.

Right now he was wearing a pair of sunglasses and a red jacket.

"What do you think?" John asked looking at the person he was hanging out with.

Aqualad gave a shrug unsure of how to answer that while he was dressed in a simple blue and black jacket, with a high collar to hide his gills and tattoos, black pants and black sandals.

The two were currently at a cafe table in Keystone City as John wanted to get out of Gotham for a bit considering he was currently benched and learned that Aqualad was on the surface so he figured why not see if he wanted to hang out-although Batman forbade him from sharing his Secret ID so he had to go by Rob.

Not to say that he wasn't prepared for trouble as he had his Utility Belt hidden underneath his jacket, just in case.

The two were a bit awkward with each other as they didn't really know what to do considering they only really interacted when the Society kidnapped them.

"So how are things in Atlantis?" Rob asked curiously as he wondered what it was like to live underwater.

Truth be told the ocean kind of terrified him due to how much was unknown and how vulnerable he would be in a fight down there, but it also fascinated him with the idea that a whole society was down there.

"Things are well, the city has healed from the latest conflict with Ocean Master and Black Manta," Aqualad said with a smile. "The King is working hard to ensure that the city remains that way."

He then looked over at Rob.

"Are things well in Gotham?"

"As well as it can be, almost all of Batman's rogues are locked up, not counting Freeze who has been MIA for a year since his last appearance and Two-Face in the wind," John said with a shrug. "Besides the gangs belonging to Black Mask, Two-Face and Penguin getting bolder it's actually been pretty peaceful."

Rob didn't bring up anything about Amazo as Batman was already looking into that.

Aqualad gave a nod, hearing about those criminals from his King, but never seeing them. "That is good." He commented knowing the rumors about how bad crime was in Gotham.

In fact, he was surprised that people still lived in that city with how it is.

"I thought I saw you guys." A voice called out and a second later a familiar red head got between them, sitting at the table.

Rob jumped and looked around noting that no one noticed the red head appearing out of nowhere before looking back at Impulse who was dressed in a yellow shirt with a purple hoodie over it and purple pants.

"Hey Robin, Aqualad." She greeted-quietly thankfully but Rob tensed a bit at how she said that in public.

"We're off duty, please call me Kaldur'ham." Aqualad said with a polite smile.

"... I'll stick with Kaldur." Impulse said with a grin before looking at Rob.

"Just call me Rob."

Impulse quirked a brow. "Bats forbid you from sharing?" She asked remembering how her Dad told her of his adventures with the first Robin that it was the same situation.

Rob just gave a barely noticeable nod. "What brings you here Impulse?"

"Irey." Impu-no Irey said with a grin not caring if they knew. "Irey West."

"You have no sense of a secret ID do you?" Rob asked dryly with Irey looking thoughtful before answering with a 'nope'.

"I was running by when I saw you two, I recognized Kaldur so I ran and changed before seeing what was up," Irey said quickly. "What brings you two to Keystone?"

"Wanted to get out of Gotham for a bit." Rob shrugged at her, making sure no one was listening. "I called Speedy and Static but they were both busy."

"You didn't call me?" Irey asked with a kicked puppy look at being left out while he apparently called Kaldur after the other two.

"You didn't answer." Rob deadpanned at her with Irey adopting a sheepish expression on her face hearing that.

"We would've asked you to join us if you did." Kaldur promised her with Irey looking a bit better. "How have you been?"

"Great, although Dad has been keeping an eye on me lately whenever he's not with the others." Irey complained with her arms crossed.

"Tell me about it, my mentor has me checking in every thirty minutes whenever I'm out there." Rob said with a chuckle. "What about you Kaldur?

"The King has also been watching over me as of late." Kaldur said with Rob detecting some hints of frustration in his tone.

"Well the Society is still out there." Irey said with a sigh, understanding why their mentors were like that.

' _Hey what if we do our own investigation with the others?_ '

Rob could just hear the proposition from Mia in his head and he has to admit it's sounding a lot more tempting than it was when she suggested it. But he put it in the back of his mind considering he was still benched and didn't want to risk Bruce's wrath any further than he already has.

"So what were you guys talking about?" Irey decided to ask as she wanted to hang out with them as she didn't really have a lot of friends back home and she was a bit annoyed at Jai because of a silly argument they had.

"We were just talking about current events," Rob said with a shrug, subtly checking his phone to see if he got a message before putting it back in his pocket. "Nothing really too interesting-."

Screams could be heard making the three look towards the street to see much to their surprise a car coming right for the cafe.

Rob kicked back on the table, allowing for the chair to flip as he was behind it right as Kaldur jumped back his strength getting him out of the way with Irey easily running out of there, the car thankfully slammed past the table, barely touching the chair that Rob just jumped out of.

Wincing as his ribs protested from the movement, Rob regrouped with the other two, Irey coming back after making sure the cafe was clear of people to see that the one who threw the car was a giant being made completely of stone. "Isn't that Cinderblock?" Kaldur asked remembering learning about him from Garth in his days as a Titan.

Rob gave a barely noticeable nod noting that Cinderblock was running through with an armored car in his hands, showing he was robbing the bank and just grabbed it off the road-kind of scary if you think about it.

The fact that the other car flew towards them was completely by chance.

Irey grinned and pulled her goggles out that she kept for whenever she wanted to run and placed them on. "Up for a team-up?" She asked excitedly.

"I don't have my suit." Rob said unsure about this as Cinderblock was extremely powerful, enough to where one hit would kill him without his suits protection.

"Neither do I, don't need it." Irey ran in there without any hesitation despite Kaldur calling after her.

Rob groaned and quickly checked his com. "Batman this is Robin, Cinderblock is sighted in Keystone City and Impulse just engaged." He said seeing Kaldur run in to make sure Irey didn't get herself killed, jumping over a thrown car-.

Rob let out a cry of shock as he dove to the side, barely dodging the other car.

" _ **Robin?!**_ " Batman called out in worry hearing the cry.

"Sorry had to move out of the way of a flying car." Rob apologized to his mentor. "Aqualad just joined Impulse."

" _ **Get out of there.**_ " Batman ordered as he was in the middle of a League crisis involving Black Adam. " _ **You are not to engage.**_ "

Rob hesitated on that, seeing Kaldur getting backhanded right into a building with Irey barely dodging a stomp before coming to a decision.

He wasn't going to leave them.

"Sorry you're breaking up." Rob said pretending he couldn't hear him. "I can't hear you."

" _ **Robi-.**_ " Rob cut off the call with a wince.

He was so going to get a lecture when this was over.

Unzipping his jacket to where his Utility Belt was shown, Rob pulled out a pair of birdarangs and flung them towards Cinderblock, making them land on his shoulders before they blew up.

It didn't do much but annoy the behemoth, although it distracted him enough to where Kaldur was able to jump up to give a left-hook, making Cinderblock stumble back.

"You have your Utility Belt?!" Irey asked in surprise with Rob throwing down smoke to cover them, Cinderblock coughing as he did so.

"Never go anywhere without it, best way to survive." Rob said helping a couple out of a nearby car that was totaled. "You might want to get out of here."

The couple looked a bit startled at seeing heroes dressed like everyday people before they gave a nod and ran off.

"Okay I think it's safe to say we won't be able to come to Keystone dressed in civvies for a while." Rob commented with Kaldur holding out his hand at a nearby fire hydrant, the top blasting off as he shot the water at Cinderblock the force making the concrete criminal step back.

"Anyone have a plan?" Kaldur asked, Irey zooming back to them rubbing her hands as she tried to punch Cinderblock a few times at high speeds thinking that would have some effect the guy barely felt it.

"Not this time." Rob said about to grab some more birdarangs only for Cinderblock to stomp a foot on the ground making it shake as Rob barely kept his balance before he threw a birdarang right as Irey went to run in.

That resulted in her being hit in the shoulder making her cry out. "Watch it."

"You ran in front of-." Rob went to argue but stopped himself as it didn't matter with Kaldur jumping up, his arms sparking but Cinderblock grabbed him and threw him right into the boy wonder, sending him rolling on the ground as they got up.

"Apologies." Kaldur said quickly getting back up.

Shaking his head, Rob shot his grapple to a nearby street light to get into the air but Cinderblock reached out and grabbed it, pulling to make him collide with both Kaldur and Irey, sending them in the wall.

Now Rob's ribs were really protesting.

This was bad, they weren't fighting as a team like they did against Grundy, but as individuals who kept getting into each other's ways.

"Get off of me." Irey complained as both Kaldur and Rob landed on her.

"Sorry," Rob pulled out a few birdarangs. "Maneuver 58."

He momentarily forgot that there was no way they would know what that was.

Irey at the same time however called out. "High and Low." Needless to say the two ended up colliding with each other.

"What was that?" Rob muttered as Kaldur quickly gained Cinderblock's attention to avoid him attacking the two while they were down.

"You're asking what high and low was?" Irey asked in disbelief. "It's the same tactic I use with Dad, what the heck is Maneuver 58?"

"A tactic Batman and I do."

"Newsflash I'm not Batman." Irey got out with Aqualad jumping back to join them as he had to avoid a hit.

Quickly righting themselves, Rob looked from Cinderblock to the construction site behind him. "I have an idea-."

He was cut off when a beam of blue energy slammed into Cinderblock, sending him on his back while the three heroes looked surprised by that development.

"Titans Go!" The three teens turned to see the Justice League member Cyborg his cannon arm smoking while three teens ran in with a green Cheetah alongside them.

The teens were Superboy a teen with dark hair wearing a black shirt with the House of El symbol on it, Wonder Girl blonde girl wearing a sleeveless red shirt and jeans with silver bracelets on her wrists and Kid Flash a teen in a red and yellow suit with the iconic bolt on the chest-the latter giving Irey a concerned look as they engaged Cinderblock, the first two giving an uppercut while the cheetah turned into a Rhino, barreling the villain over.

Rob, Irey and Kaldur exchanged glances and went to rush in only for a dark shield to appear in front of them.

Turning from the shield, Rob saw a young woman in a violet cloak with her hand glowing. "It's best you remain out of this one." Raven said her tone holding no rooms for an argument.

Irey looked annoyed by that while Rob gave a relieved sigh but he wouldn't deny being just as annoyed considering he did just come up with a plan after all.

Kaldur gave a nod to let Raven know they understood and the shield was down in time for them to see that Cinderblock was knocked out.

"Man they made it look easy." Rob muttered under his breath seeing how they took Cinderblock out in a matter of seconds while they struggled for the last few minutes to even annoy him.

"Aw man, KF is never going to let me forget this." Irey groaned out.

"Could be worse." Rob said with a shrug. "At least we didn't embarrass ourselves further."

Irey went to say something but Kaldur interjected.

"I think what Robin meant to say is that we should take this and learn from it." None of them noticed how Superboy's head jerked towards their conversation upon hearing the name 'Robin' much to Wonder Girl and Kid Flash's confusion.

"We wouldn't have to if Robin didn't hit me with the birdarang." Irey said rubbing her shoulder.

She meant it as a joke but Rob didn't take it as such.

"Says the girl who ran in without thinking," Rob glared not liking how she blamed him for that. "What did you think you were going to do run circles around him?"

"At least it was better than tossing your toys." Irey said her annoyance getting the best of her at how he said that.

Kaldur looked like he was trying to intervene as their voices were getting a bit louder catching the other's attention.

"You have problem?"

"Yeah it's four feet tall and in desperate need of a haircut." Irey smirked as Rob glared at the shot at his height despite how he was taller than her.

"This coming from the midget in goggles." Rob retorted with Irey narrowing her eyes.

"I'm twelve what's your excuse?"

"Twelve? More like three." Rob snorted with Irey looking taken aback by that rather accurate statement despite Rob not knowing it.

"Deja-Vu." The rhino turned into a green skinned young man in a black and purple suit looking at Cyborg who gave a nod, knowing what he was referring to.

"Enough." Kaldur finally got between them. "We're all at fault here, arguing won't change that."

Both Irey and Rob just huffed and looked away, intent on not saying anything else to each other.

"Hey." The three of them stopped when Superboy approached the group followed by Wonder Girl and Kid Flash. "You were just called Robin, right?"

Rob blinked, giving a cautious nod.

"Is Ti-our Robin doing alright?" Superboy asked with a hint of concern in his tone. "We haven't heard from him since he retired."

Rob gave a nod. "Last I saw him he is." He said rubbing the back of his head.

"Well that's good," Kid Flash said looking relieved before he glanced at Irey. "You alright?"

"I'm fine." Irey said to him. "We could've handled him."

"Uh yeah, was that before or after you got thrown into each other." Beast Boy quipped with an amused look.

It had no bite as Cinderblock was a pretty tough opponent from their old days as Titans.

"So race you home Irey?" Kid Flash asked with a smirk that Irey returned.

"Oh you're on."

"Good we'll start in a sec." Kid Flash said zipping back to Superboy and Wondergirl who walked off to talk about something, telling them he would meet them back at the Tower later.

Kaldur sighed. "I should head back too," He said looking at Rob. "Thanks for the invite."

"No prob Kal." Rob said shortening Kaldur's name even further with a grin. "Probably won't happen again for awhile with how angry Bats will be."

"Why would he be angry?" Irey turned in surprise the argument forgotten for the moment.

"He uh told me to not engage Cinderblock and I might've turned my com link off before disobeying him." Rob said rubbing the back of his head. "So odds are he is going to be pissed."

"Oh big time." Cyborg commented an amused grin on his face. "Nice to meet you by the way, you planning on coming to Titans Tower anytime soon?"

It's become a sort of tradition for Nightwing to bring a Robin to Titans Tower when there's a new one after both Jason and Tim.

It was the same with Wonder Woman bringing her protege there with Donna and Cassie and then with Wally doing the same to Bart, even Irey and Jai have both been there despite the fact that the latter didn't have powers anymore.

If someone told Cyborg that Titans Tower when it was built would one day be a clubhouse for teenage heroes instead of the headquarters he would've gave them an unamused look thinking they were on something.

Rob blinked in surprise behind his sunglasses before hesitating and looking towards Superboy, Wonder Girl and Kid Flash who were laughing about something that the speedster said.

"They wouldn't hold it against you for their friend retiring." Raven said as if she could read his mind and Rob had a sneaking suspicion she did-then again her empathic abilities probably helped with that.

"I wouldn't want to make things awkward." Rob finally said before flashing a grateful smile to them, but he would be lying if he said he wasn't interested in visiting someday.

Truthfully it was because those three were Tim's friends while these guys were Dick's and he didn't want to get between the dynamic they made as a team with each other.

"Is Garth at the Tower?" Kaldur asked curiously with Beast Boy giving a nod and as the changeling began to talk animatedly with the Atlantean, Rob turned to Irey who was waiting a bit impatiently for Kid Flash to finish so they could have their race.

"Your shoulder alright?"

Irey blinked before realizing what he meant. "Yeah it's healed by now, speedsters heal quick."

"That's good," Rob said with a sigh. "Sorry about what I said."

Now Irey looked a bit sheepish. "Yeah, same here." She said as she does say a lot of things she regrets later, something she was told she got from her Dad. "You're not in too much trouble right?"

"Jury's still out on that one." Rob said with a shrug before seeing Kid Flash waving good-bye to Superboy and Wonder Girl, zipping over to Irey. "See ya Impulse."

Irey smirked. "Same to you Rob." She said giving a lazy salute right as she looked at Kid Flash. "Ready to race?"

"Born ready." Kid Flash returned before they both were gone.

* * *

John winced as soon as the Zeta Beam in Keystone dropped him off a good twenty minutes later in the Batcave-after he typed in a certain code.

Bruce was standing there with his cowl off and he did not look happy.

"I gave you an order to not engage." Bruce said his tone showing almost no emotion.

John rubbed the back of his head. "Funny story," He said a bit weakly only for Bruce's glare to cut him off. "Bruce, I didn't want to leave Impulse and Aqualad to fight that by themselves, besides the Titans showed up-."

"After I called Cyborg when you turned your coms off," Bruce interrupted a furious look on his face. "You're still injured from the incident with Amazo."

"How many times do you go on League missions when you're still injured?!" John snapped before he could think. "I can handle myself just as well."

"That's not the point Jason-!"

Bruce went silent while John blinked.

Did he just?

"Uh wrong Robin?" John tried a bit bewildered by that.

Instead of continuing the conversation from there, Bruce turned back to the computer. "Go home John," He told the young teen. "You're grounded from being Robin until I say so."

John wanted to say more but bit his tongue to keep himself quiet and turned to leave knowing that arguing would just make it worse.

When he left, Bruce pinched his nose unable to believe he just did that.

He hasn't done something like that since Tim's early days as Robin but John was just reminding him way too much of Jason to not do it.

And the way he's disobeying him in the field has him worried that he would meet the same end as Jason, only in John's case there won't be a miracle to bring him back.

* * *

John sighed as he walked around Gotham his red jacket zipped up to hide his utility belt.

But his sunglasses were off as he had no reason to hide in Gotham City.

"Definitely would be a boring week." John muttered considering the fact that he wouldn't be able to patrol for awhile before he had a thought.

That doesn't mean he can't go to Titans Tower to visit as Rob right? … He'll ask Dick for the passcodes first so he can zeta there later.

But only if Impulse, Aqualad and Speedy were there-he wasn't sure if Static would be there considering he typically stays in North Dakota.

Hearing his phone buzz, John checked it to see it was from Stephanie who was asking what the plan was for that night.

At that he paused a bit nervous.

He had no clue what he was going to do for the date.

Scratching the back of his head as John tried to think about what to do, an idea came to him on who he could ask.

"Should've done this in the first place." John muttered taking off running.

Moments later he was in the Clock Tower with Barbara giving him a raised brow. "You need some dating advice?"

"Uh yeah, I don't know what to do." John said to her. "I already tried asking a few people but I didn't get any helpful advice-or advice at all really."

"Is this with Stephanie or Speedy?" Barbara asked curiously with John fidgeting a bit annoyed that just about everyone knows about that.

"... Steph." John finally said, Barbara giving a nod.

"Alright what do you want to know?"

"Anything, I've never been on a date before." John said nervously.

After a few seconds, Barbara spoke. "How about taking her to the amusement park?" She suggested to him. "The games and rides there would make for a fun time."

John noticed how she seemed to be lost in memories. "Speaking from experience?" He asked before wincing. "Never mind-."

"It's fine, Dick and I used to go there a few times before the Titans were formed." Barbara said with a smile.

"You and Dick dated?" John was surprised to hear that when he's seen them acting like siblings towards each other the last year.

"When we were teenagers, not so much anymore." Barbara said with a smile, thinking back to what she would call 'simple' times.

"Oh they did more than dated." Barbara frowned while John blinked, turning to see a dark haired woman in her late twenties wearing a form-fitting black and purple uniform, a crossbow attached to her hip leaning on the door frame.

"Huntress, what are you doing here?" Barbara asked politely, her glare telling the other woman not to elaborate on what she just said a second ago.

"Dinah called me about checking something out here in Gotham, she should be here soon," Huntress said tilting her head to John. "Didn't take you for babysitting. Who's the kid?"

"Robin." John said quickly putting the sunglasses on to hide his eyes much to Huntresses amusement.

"Ah the new Boy Wonder?" Huntress gave a slight chuckle. "So dating advice huh?"

"... How long were you there?" John asked his shoulders slumping as there was yet another person who seemed to be able to sneak up on him despite all of his training.

Or maybe it was because he let his guard down in the Clock Tower?

"Just enough to get what was going on," Huntress commented pushing off the door frame to walk in right as a blonde haired woman wearing a black shirt and a blue jacket walked in, pausing at seeing John. "What took so long Dinah?"

"Just some problems at home." Dinah Lance, the Black Canary said looking at Huntress while John sighed.

"Well you seem to have your hands full, thanks for the advice Oracle." John said standing up.

If he knew the 'Birds of Prey' were going to be here he would've just called.

"Anytime." Barbara said looking amused as he left before turning serious as she looked at her guests. "So what's the situation?"

* * *

An hour later, John was tugging on the collar of his shirt a bit uncomfortable as he approached where Stephanie lived.

Apparently she lived with her mother 'Crystal Brown' and she doesn't know about her daughter being Spoiler along with being a nurse for Gotham General and divorced her husband for being Cluemaster who was currently in Blackgate Prison.

John found that last part out by accident as Cluemaster was one of the files he studied, he didn't say anything about knowing that to Stephanie as he figured she wouldn't want to talk about it.

Taking a deep breath as he made it to the apartment, John knocked and stood back for a few seconds right before the door opened to show a young woman with brown hair with glasses looking a bit suspicious of him.

Not that John minded given this was Gotham.

"Hey uh is Stephanie home?" John asked a bit nervously rubbing the back of his head.

"That depends on who's asking." Crystal said not answering before Stephanie intervened.

"Mom it's cool, he's a friend." Stephanie said an exasperated look on her face. "John this is my Mom, Mom this is John."

"Nice to meet you." John said holding his hand out with Crystal still having a frown but she accepted the handshake.

"I thought you were dating that Drake boy?" Crystal said with John blinking, not expecting that.

Tim and Stephanie used to date?

"Mom." Stephanie said a bit annoyed now with Crystal finally raising a hand in a placating manner.

"Fine, fine I won't pry," Crystal told her before looking at John. "If she's not home by eight I'm calling the police."

"Yes ma'am," John said before Stephanie closed the front door. "... She was pleasant."

"Sorry about her, Mom just worries a lot." Stephanie explained the two now walking the streets of Gotham.

"It's cool." John said wishing his Dad did that too before he went quiet. "So you and Tim used to date?"

Stephanie sighed at that. "Leave it to Mom to mention that," She muttered, giving John a look. "Yes we used to date but we broke up a bit before he retired, I'd rather not talk about it."

"Got it." John said getting the message to drop it.

Nothing else was said as they walked before Stephanie raised a brow. "So do you have a plan or are we just walking?"

"Well how about Amusement Mile?" John suggested rubbing the back of his head. "Or the Movies, one of the two. Which do you prefer?"

"The Park sounds a lot more fun." Stephanie said with John happy that he went to Barbara for advice on this.

It was actually pretty empty at the Carnival in Amusement Mile, not completely empty but just a slow night for them as the two walked through it a good few minutes later.

"So how was Keystone?" Stephanie asked curiously earning a surprised look from John.

"How did you know I was there?"

"It was on the News with Cinderblock attacking and it showed the Titans taking him down, but there was a bit of a talk about three 'kids' getting their butts kicked." Stephanie said with John twitching a bit.

"Let me guess, G. Gordon Godfrey?" John asked with Stephanie giving a nod as that certain News Reporter made it his life's mission to try and outlaw 'Superheroes'. "Do I want to know how bad?"

"Probably not," Stephanie commented with them stopping to get a small snack. "But besides that how was it?"

"Pretty good, I got to know Aqualad and Impulse a bit better," John said as they both got some cotton candy. "What about you? Anything interesting happen today?"

"All I did was spar with Cass, nothing really exciting," Stephanie rolled her shoulders just thinking about that before they came to a few of the game stalls. "Want to give some of them a try?"

John just grinned as he pulled some money out to play the games.

Moments later they were leaving the stalls with some prizes chuckling a bit. "Think it's kind of unfair that we can win rigged games easily?" John asked curiously as with their training it was almost too easy.

"How is it unfair if they're rigged?" Stephanie asked with John shrugging to answer.

"I meant compared to other people," John elaborated with her. "We kind of have an advantage with our training."

"True, but that's what makes this fun." Stephanie told him, John giving a nod in agreement. "It's like when I take Gymnastics in school."

"Wait you do?" John asked in surprise looking at her.

Stephanie raised a brow. "It's how I explain what I'm able to do with the training, don't you do that?"

"Uh well I've been thinking about it but I haven't really had the time to do so with both patrol and training," John said a little embarrassed. "But I'm thinking maybe Baseball?"

"Let me guess because of the hand-eye coordination, keeping up with your throwing arm and less chance of an injury than say Football?" Stephanie listed off of her fingers.

John grinned. "Got it in one." He said knowing that Baseball season would be beginning in a month or two.

He has to say so far this 'date' is going a lot better than he expected it to go.

They spent the next hour or so just goofing off with some of the games there before Stephanie's phone beeped and she checked it. "It's Seven-Thirty." She said with a wince.

"Would your Mom really call the police if you aren't home on time?" John asked curiously with Stephanie nodding.

"Yeah, she would," Stephanie said with a sigh. "Too bad though, this was a lot of fun."

"Yeah it was." John agreed a smile forming on his face as they began to leave the park.

Truthfully it was nice to just be regular teenagers again for once after spending the last year being a vigilante. Just being normal is quite the experience compared to everything else.

It only took a little bit before they reached the apartment when John looked a little nervous. "So," He began catching Stephanie's attention, especially since he was turning red a bit. "That was a date right?"

Stephanie quirked a brow at the question.

"Does that make us Boyfriend and Girlfriend-?" He stopped at seeing the amused look and groaned as he was really making a complete fool of himself. "You know what, never mind."

Stephanie let out a small chuckle before smirking.

"I guess I should go-." John stopped when Stephanie placed her arms around his neck and leaned in, kissing him on the lips, making John's eyes widen in shock.

"Does that answer your question?" Stephanie asked a bit coyly.

John didn't trust himself to speak so he settled with a nod as Stephanie let go and walked into the apartment, pausing to look back as she held the door open.

"See you tomorrow." She said referring to the training at the Clock Tower but not outright saying it just in case her Mom was eavesdropping.

Once more John gave a nod while Stephanie closed the door and he stood there for a few seconds, a smile slowly creeping onto his face.

Resisting the urge to scream yes, John turned and began to run home as he realized that he was beginning to look like a creeper by just standing there.

Today was a great day.

* * *

The next day he was back at the Clock Tower grumbling as he was reading a book on Spanish.

For the last few months he's been beginning to learn different languages most notably Spanish, Russian and Italian but he only knows a few words of each, learning the words-easy, actually speaking them is the tough part.

Across from him, Cass was slowly reading a short story-not exactly a children's book as her reading has improved quite a bit despite her 'dyslexia'. Occasionally they would talk with her asking if she was reading something right while he practiced some 'Spanish' with her, helping her learn that in the process to.

Giving a slight cough, John grinned. "¿Cómo está la historia? (How's the Story?)" He asked in an attempt with Cass just giving a small smirk.

She might have trouble speaking it but she can understand it easily at this point. "Good." She replied in English. "Interesting too."

"Eso es bueno escuchar. (That's good to hear)." John replied closing the book. "Okay that's enough spanish for today."

With that he placed his book up before seeing Cass do the same. "Want to spar?" Cass asked her English coming up pretty good.

John gave a slight grimace before hiding it with a nod.

While sparring was fun he was getting a bit tired of getting his ass handed to him on a silver platter by Cass.

But he knew that each time he was getting better, so the two of them got to the sparring mat and got ready.

After a few seconds of staring each other down, Cass made the first move by running at John who tensed and feinted left only to move right.

Cass however saw that coming a mile away from how his muscles moved and delivered a palm strike that he blocked with his arm, throwing a knee up but she was already in the process of ducking and a second later, John was thrown across the map, but he recovered by doing a handspring.

' _Have to remember to thank Dick for those gymnastic lessons._ ' John thought turning around to see Cass waiting to see what his move was. ' _But now I have to focus._ '

His main goal in training was to beat Cass just once in a spar and while he knew it wouldn't happen today-or anytime soon really, he was going to give it his all.

The two circled each other for a bit before John took a deep breath and exhaled, trying to calm his nerves.

' _Remember, there will come a time when you'll face someone who is just as skilled if not more in combat._ ' Bruce's words went through John's head as he focused on his heartbeat to make sure it wasn't beating too fast. ' _In those types of situations the best thing you can do is keep a clear head, that means no distractions._ '

With those words going through his head, John rushed Cass and spun around for a kick, that she blocked with her forearm and for once John was able to see her punch coming, blocking it and delivering a punch of his own-.

It connected.

John blinked as Cass took a step back from the hit and he grinned.

He managed to tag her-.

Then he was reminded that the spar was still going on when she used the momentum to spin around, kicking his feet out from underneath him and pinning him.

"Right, have to keep focus." John muttered feeling a bit of pain before she eased up and got off, holding a hand out to help him up.

"Improvement." Cass told him with John chuckling.

"Thanks." He said happy that while he lost he managed to tag her.

Man this was just deja-vu compared to one of the spars with Bruce.

"Sorry I'm late." Stephanie entered the room with a yawn. "So what did I miss?"

"Just a spar," John said rolling his hand a bit, to ease some tension. "What took so long?"

"Wanted to spend some time with Mom for a bit," Stephanie said before giving a grin of her own. "So since we're doing spars anyone up against me?"

John looked at Cass before she just waved a hand showing she had her fun for the moment. "Alright, let's do this."

* * *

Two weeks later, Robin was blindfolded while on the rooftops of Bludhaven with Nightwing coaching him.

The Master Acrobat managed to talk Bruce into allowing for John to go back to being Robin a week ago and borrowed him for some training of his own.

"You're doing pretty well." Nightwing said as Robin has been moving around depending only on his other senses after memorizing a bit of Bludhaven.

This was another training tactic that Batman did with Nightwing back when he was Robin, just to prepare them for if something happened that momentarily took away their sight.

Nightwing felt that it would be a good idea for Robin to learn this after the incident with Shade, just to avoid it happening again.

"I had a good teacher." Robin returned with a grin that Nightwing copied before the grin turned mischievous.

"So what's this I hear about you and Spoiler?" Nightwing asked casually, making Robin stumble as he was near the edge before the former Boy Wonder grabbed Robin by the arm to make sure he didn't fall off the edge.

"W-What are you talking about?" Robin asked his face turning red while he pulled the blindfold off.

"No need to be embarrassed Little Wing," Nightwing joked with Robin grumbling about that stupid affectionate name he always used. "It's normal to fall for a girl."

"Oh God, you're are an absolute dick sometimes you know that?" Robin grumbled with Nightwing giving a laugh.

"You're just now noticing?" He asked with a smile. "So how many dates have you two gone out on in the last two weeks?"

"... Oracle told you didn't she?" Robin guessed as she was the only one who he told.

Nightwing didn't confirm or deny it. "We were both trained by Batman, it's kind of easy to figure stuff out."

Okay he had a point there.

"Just a few dates." Robin muttered looking away.

Nightwing was obviously going to question him more before he tensed, Robin doing the same a second later.

They weren't alone-.

Both vigilantes dove out of the way, behind cover as a loud bang echoed, a bullet barely missing where Nightwing was.

"Was that a flintlock pistol?!" Robin asked a bit incredulously at the aged weapon, identifying it from the sound.

"Oh great, her again." Nightwing muttered with Robin pulling a birdarang out, using the shining surface to see the reflection of the shooter.

It was a blonde woman wearing a form-fitting red and yellow costume, a silverish mask over her upper face, holding a smoking flintlock pistol and a couple of daggers and swords.

"Pissed off ex of yours?" Robin asked in a mocking tone as he didn't recognize her from any files.

"If only it was that simple." Nightwing quipped back to him. "That's Lady Vic, she works for Blockbuster who's the Kingpin around Bludhaven, guess he hired her to kill me."

Then Nightwing looked serious.

"She's no joke, trust me she's good at hand-to-hand." Nightwing warned the Boy Wonder.

"Got it." John said him holding up two birdarangs. "So how do we do this?"

"Maneuver 32?"

Robin grinned before giving a nod.

A moment later they both dove out of cover, Robin throwing a birdarang while Nightwing tossed a Wing Ding at her, forcing her to move to the side while Robin used the grapple to launch himself up throwing smoke bombs to try and disorientate her.

But that proved to be futile as Lady Vic easily got out of the smoke with a pair of Kris Daggers, on hand prompting Robin to quickly duck right as Nightwing made his way towards her, his sticks out the electric feature on.

Lady Vic backed up to evade the strikes from Nightwing. "So Vic what brings you back here?" Nightwing questioned as he kept an eye on her for any form of movement that could end his life if he wasn't careful.

"I promised Blockbuster to have your head on a platter." Lady Vic said simply, easily blocking a strike from Robin as she went to hit Nightwing only for him to use his sticks to disarm one of the daggers. "I keep my promises."

That didn't deter her as she jumped doing a backflip to make some distance while both Robin and Nightwing prepared themselves.

Lady Vic took out two Webley-Fosbery .455 revolvers and shot at them, forcing the vigilantes to move with Nightwing acrobatically flipping out of the way, Robin meanwhile had to bring his gauntlets up to protect his face as one of the bullets bounced off of it, giving him time to make it to cover as he pulled out his grapple.

Seeing what Robin had out, Nightwing could tell what he had planned and gave a slight nod, throwing one of his sticks at Lady Vic, making her lean back to dodge it, taking her notice off of Robin who covertly snuck off the rooftop to go around to the other side.

While he did that, Nightwing closed in on the distance, grabbing the thrown stick as he and Lady Vic began to exchange blows, her having to drop her pistols in favor of two daggers on her belt, managing to scratch Nightwing on the shoulder as he hit her across the arm, the electricity on the stick making her stumble but she pushed through it.

Nightwing jumped over Lady Vic right as she slashed at him, landing and throwing up a stick to block a dagger before spinning around to slam his elbow into her gut and followed up with a few kata's that forced her to step back blocking quite a few of them despite being disorientated.

"This is more like it, a fight to the finish." Vic said with a smirk before Nightwing laughed.

"Yeah but notice something missing?"

His words reminded her of the Boy Wonder right as the grapple wrapped around her arm with Robin managing to sneak up behind her. "Or rather someone?" Robin followed up with a quip.

Lady Vic didn't get the chance to reply as Nightwing delivered an upper palm strike on her chin at the same time that Robin reeled himself in, giving a kick on Lady Vic's back the two blows sending her to the ground out cold.

"Well that was something." Robin said at the new experience while Nightwing laughed.

"Yeah she's usually harder to beat," Nightwing explained to him. "Then again I'm usually on my own when we fight."

"But you think something's not right?" Robin questioned due to the tone in Nightwing's voice.

"Yeah, to attack us out of nowhere like that? She would usually wait until I'm alone," Nightwing paused at pulling a piece of paper out of Lady Vic's pocket. "Oh great."

"What is it?" Robin asked only for Nightwing to pass it to him. "Oh."

It was a bounty of Nightwing, apparently Lady Vic wasn't the only one after him and that would explain her sloppiness in trying to take Nightwing down quickly.

"This puts a bit of a kink in our training plans." Nightwing said with a sigh. "You should head back to Gotham."

Robin gave Nightwing an incredulous look. "And leave you with this?!"

"Relax I can handle having a bounty," Nightwing said keeping an eye on neighboring rooftops. "It's something you deal with as a vigilante, you have one yourself."

"... I do?"

"Penguin and Black Mask put bounties on anyone connected with the old man." Nightwing elaborated with Robin blinking in surprise. "So I'm used to this-."

Nightwing froze as a figure dropped on the rooftop across from them, his joking and light-hearted demeanor disappearing while Robin looked at the new arrival to see it was a man in an orange, black and silver armored suit, armed to the teeth with different weapons and a mask that was half black, half bronze with a single eye peering out from it.

Robin recognized him alright as this man was a legend.

Deathstroke the Terminator.

The man who could take on all members of the League by himself along with the only person who the Batman has never beaten in a fight-without help.

Robin would be lying if he said he wasn't scared right now.

"Slade." Nightwing said anger in his tone, something that surprised Robin as Nightwing has never acted like that before.

"Nightwing it's been awhile hasn't it?" Deathstroke greeted in a cold, metallic voice.

As Deathstroke spoke, he looked from Nightwing to Robin who tensed.

"And the new Boy Wonder?"

Nightwing immediately stepped in front of Robin. "What are you doing here Slade?" He spat out at the man, ignoring some flashbacks of his earlier encounters of this man back when he was Robin.

"I'm certain you can figure it out given my line of work," Deathstroke said pulling a bo-staff out. "Even if you were my apprentice once."

Normally Robin would've asked Nightwing what he was talking about but considering what was about to happen, he didn't think it was the time as the acrobat readied his escrima sticks. "Robin get back to Gotham now!"

"There's no need to worry this is between you and me, someone else however might say otherwise." Deathstroke said looking past the two.

Seeing that as a bad sign, Robin turned to see someone else land on the rooftop.

The figure was a girl who looked about seventeen wearing a similar suit to Deathstroke, but the mask was a headband with the bottom part of her face showing and white hair sticking out the back pulled into a ponytail as she held two katanas.

Nightwing saw her and frowned. "Another apprentice Slade?" He asked darkly.

"You sound disappointed." Deathstroke said in a bit of a mocking tone.

As those two seemed to be having a pissing contest, Robin eyed the new arrival warily.

Her stance showed that she was extremely adept in Kenjutsu with a small hint of Bushido.

And considering how Nightwing will have his own problem Robin knew he might be on his own in this fight.

Not that he minded because he felt that Nightwing most likely got the raw end of the deal because of Deathstroke's reputation.

"Can I at least have the name of my opponent before we fight?" Robin asked in a calm tone, activating detective vision to try and analyze her skeletal structure for a weak point.

The girl smirked. "Ravager." She said and immediately Robin grimaced as the Detective Vision went fuzzy showing she had something that interfered with it-.

Robin turned it off only to quickly duck a sword strike, as he pulled out two birdarangs.

While he was happy to use his fists, he didn't feel like testing his gauntlets durability with those swords.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Deathstroke and Nightwing fighting-or more of Nightwing being on the defensive and doing his best to avoid being hit.

"Pay attention to the fight." Ravager commented, not liking how he didn't seem to be taking this seriously but Robin blocked the sword strikes, barely keeping them from cutting him as they pushed against the birdarangs.

"I am it's called multitasking." Robin said flippantly as he had to jump back considering the girl's strength was definitely better than his, along with how her reflexes seemed showed she was superhuman just like Deathstroke.

This just got harder.

So he tossed the birdarangs after pressing a button on them, but she ended up pulling the matrix with leaning back instead of dodging them as they exploded after shooting past her.

Ravager didn't even waste a second as she moved at him with blinding speed, forcing him on the defensive this time having no choice but to block with his gauntlets as the swords collided with them, making him step back as she kept the assault up.

"You're pretty good." Robin couldn't help but say as this was like fighting Cass only with enhanced strength added into the mix-not a good combination for him.

"Compliments won't get you anywhere bird boy." Ravager returned delivering a slash that was followed up with a kick.

Robin managed to block the slash but the kick to the stomach sent him rolling on the ground wincing in pain.

Thankfully the blow connected with the suit, considering it protected him against Amazo this was almost nothing compared to that.

But it still hurt.

Ravager threw down smoke pellets at him, catching him in a cloud of smoke.

' _So this is what it feels like._ ' Robin thought a bit annoyed as he barely caught her form in the smoke and grabbed one of her wrists much to her surprise.

Robin didn't stop there as this wasn't a spar but an actual fight that can kill him, he went to deliver a palm strike to render the arm useless but Ravager dropped one of her swords and blocked the hit before kneeing him in the solar plexus nearly making him let go, but they both were at a stalemate as neither side was planning on letting go.

Although Robin had a feeling that he was going to lose this struggle as the pressure she was putting on was a bit more intense than his.

Ravager smirked again. "This is more fun than I thought it would be." She commented, Robin figured that was a sort of compliment.

"Glad that I'm not boring." Robin quipped back trying to find a weakness.

While they were in the stalemate, Nightwing jumped back holding a bruised side that Deathstroke managed to tag a few times in their short fight.

That's not to say he didn't get a few hits on Deathstroke as the mask the man wore was cracked a bit along with the Bo-Staff being broken in half and the man was now using a sword.

"Just like old times wouldn't you say?" Deathstroke asked with Nightwing gritting his teeth. "Only this time without the Titans interfering."

"You're not here for the bounty are you," Nightwing accused as he knew the man wouldn't be fooling around like this if he was. "What's your real game here Slade?"

Seeing as how Deathstroke wasn't attacking for the moment, Nightwing glanced back to make sure Robin was alright and saw the stalemate going on before he blocked the sword strike from Deathstroke, giving a slight curse as the man broke through his escrima sticks.

Making some distance, Nightwing decided to go old school in this fight and took a metal baton out, spinning it to make it extend, holding it behind him as he got ready.

Ravager finally got tired of the stalemate and threw Robin over her shoulder, sending him across the rooftop.

Pushing himself up, he barely dove out of the way as Ravager went to impale him with the katana she picked back up while Robin landed next to the one he disarmed and grabbed it.

"Do you even know how to use that?" Ravager asked as Robin held it-showing that he wasn't trained in swordsmanship.

After a moment he copied how she held it a second ago, albit a little sloppy but he smirked. "Saw how you did it." Robin snarked.

"Right foot forward," Ravager said surprising Robin. "If you're going to use my sword at least get the stance right."

Robin frowned for a second as he wasn't sure if she was trying to trick him into getting into a bad stance or just wanted to fight him on equal grounds.

"I prefer my fights to be fun rather than easy." Ravager commented as she saw his frown.

That was what made him realize that she held back this whole fight, she could've ended him easily.

Robin swung the sword to test it and saw it was light and comfortable in his hand before he lunged at Ravager to see that she blocked his hit easily.

"You left yourself open." Ravager said right before Robin felt pain on his side and looked down to see that she had a small dagger that penetrated the armor.

She jumped back, pulling the dagger out in the process with Robin pressing a hand to his now bleeding side, it wasn't a deep wound and thankfully it missed something vital, but it would hamper him in this fight.

But he smirked despite the pain. "So did you."

Ravager looked confused before she heard beeping and looked at her foot to see a small circular device attached to it as it sent electricity flowing through her body, forcing her to fall to one knee from the shock while Robin was panting in pain.

Slowly Ravager pushed herself up. "Not bad."

Dropping the katana as he decided to go for something a bit more comfortable, Robin got in a stance that Ravager analyzed, but before she could go on the offensive again she had to jump back as a green bolt of energy nearly hit her following one aimed at Deathstroke, forcing him to disengage from Nightwing.

Robin quickly glanced at where the attack came from to see what he could only describe as a drop-dead gorgeous woman with neon green eyes that were currently glowing with orange skin and fiery red hair wearing a purple tanktop and skirt.

He recognized her easily.

Starfire, one of the founding members of the Teen Titans.

"You stay away from him Slade." Starfire said anger in her tone as along with Nightwing she seemed to know Slade well.

Deathstroke paused for a bit as the odds were now turning with the arrival of the Tamaranean.

While he was certain he could take her, he didn't want to risk it right now.

"Ravager." Deathstroke called out, the girl giving a nod.

But Ravager took the time to give Robin a look. "We'll finish this later bird boy and next time I won't be going easy." She promised him while Robin held his side with a glare of his own as the two Assassins threw down flash bangs to mask their escape.

"Nightwing are you alright?" Starfire's eyes stopped glowing as she flew to Nightwing in worry as when she came to visit the last thing she expected to see was him fighting Slade. "Slade did not injure you, yes?"

"I'm fine Star," Nightwing said forcing a grin on his face as he looked at the Tamaranean Princess. "Why didn't you tell me you were back from your home planet?"

"I wanted as you humans say surprise you," Starfire said with a smile as she had to leave two years ago to take care of some issues back home. "I stopped by the Tower where Cyborg told me you were here."

Nightwing smiled before hearing Robin approach. "You alright Little Wing?" He asked in worry from how the teen was holding his side.

"Just a scratch," Robin said with a shrug while Starfire looked at him curiously. "Nothing too deep and the bleeding already stopped."

"You're not Tim." She said giving Nightwing a worried look as she saw how badly losing Jason had affected him.

"Tim's alive, I'll tell you later." Nightwing promised her as Starfire gave a nod. "John this is Koriand'r."

Robin showed surprise for a moment that Nightwing actually said his real name before thinking that since she knew who Tim was and more likely knew who Dick was, it wasn't that bad that she knew his name.

"Nice to meet you." Robin said with a polite smile.

Starfire returned the smile. "May I ask some questions?"

"Sure." Robin said before gaining a suspicious look at how Nightwing looked to be snickering.

Starfire then began firing questions in a rapid like manner. "Where do you come from? What's your favorite color? Do you wish to be friends?"

Robin had to blink as he processed that while Nightwing looked happy that despite growing up she still has the same longing to make friends that she did when they first formed the Titans.

"Uh Gotham, I like red and sure?" Robin was not prepared for the bone crushing hug that followed.

' _Okay she's a hugger._ ' Robin thought as he swore he heard his spine pop a bit.

Then he realized from this angle he had a view of her chest causing for his face to resemble a tomato as he quickly looked away before Nightwing intervened. "Okay Star, he needs to breathe." He said sounding amused.

Robin nearly collapsed as he stumbled after being let go.

Yeah he'll be sore for a bit.

"So are you here for good or is this just a visit?" Nightwing asked a little afraid of the answer before Starfire smiled brightly.

"The issues in Tamaran were resolved and I'm as you would say free to stay." Starfire confirmed with Nightwing smiling. "You should meet Ryand'r when you have the chance."

Nightwing blinked. "Wait, who?"

"My younger brother, he's currently at the Tower." Starfire elaborated for him. "I thought bringing him to Earth would be a wonderful experience for him."

"Huh, I'll be sure to drop by." Nightwing said surprised by this piece of info, sure he knew Starfire had a sister, but a brother?

Seeing how they looked at each other, Robin quirked a brow and waited until Starfire flew off towards Jump with Nightwing promising he would be there in a bit. "Are you two-?" He didn't finish but crossed his fingers while Nightwing chuckled.

"Yes," Nightwing said, a smile on his face. "Yes we are."

"... You are officially my hero." Robin said earning a laugh from Nightwing.

"Alright Little Wing, we should still get that side checked out."

 _ **To Be Continued…**_

 _ **Alright this chapter honestly felt like it was all over the place, but we have a bit more of the DC universe showing with John meeting the Titans and had another team up with both Impulse and Aqualad however it didn't go to well as they weren't really used to working together.**_

 _ **Speaking of Impulse, I know someone is going to say I made her a bit 'childish' but that's the point. In the comics, like Bart, she aged incredibly fast alongside her twin brother Jai to where she was an elderly woman in a matter of days and Wally barely managed to fix that resulting her to end up at the age of nine despite barely being a year old, in this case she's barely three years old if you think about it. She grows out of it eventually I can promise that.**_

 _ **Then we have the admittedly short date with Stephanie with her and John becoming a couple so far, hope you enjoyed that and after that we showed a small scene with John and Cass getting along and he managed to finally tag her in a spar-before promptly getting his ass handed to him in a split second. Also if the spanish is wrong sorry-I'm using Google Translate for it.**_

 _ **After that he was with Nightwing where we introduced Slade and Ravager-hope you enjoyed the small fight between Robin and Ravager the latter holding back because I think she would do that to enjoy the fight a bit more-although next time they meet she won't be holding back at all.**_

 _ **Finally after that we have Starfire introduced and showing a bit of her cartoon personality-she will show a bit of her comic one though a bit later so she's not as naive as she was in the comics considering she's a young adult at this point.**_

 _ **Now let's answer some reviews.**_

 _ **Nightmaster000: Thank you, I always liked that version of Penguin better honestly because he puts up more of a fight than his other incarnations-although I liked the Gotham version pretty well so far. I know what you mean about Mia and Irey not getting much spotlight, which is why I added them as well as others who don't get much spotlight will be making an appearance. Good call on Permafrost and Nails, I might add them or more Bang Babies like them and thank you for your condolences.**_

 _ **DannyPhantom619: You'll see her soon enough, I can promise that and while John is slowly getting there he's only been a vigilante for one year so far, still plenty of time for him to grow.**_

 _ **Silverking77: Thanks for the condolences and I'm glad you enjoyed this story.**_

 _ **Dark King Marcel: Thanks and thanks for all the help.**_

 _ **Coldblue: Thanks for the condolences and it's nice to see that people enjoy this story so far. Yeah I know what you mean with taking steps to show the difference of skill in John at this point from the beginning of the story, especially when the steps involved freaking Amazo but I'm happy you enjoyed that the fight/team-up with Speedy. Yeah love-wise John has no idea what to do and needed advice, as for how long Stephanie and John will date? You'll find out in a later chapter. There will be other relationships in the future with John-or flings I can promise that. While John has a father-figure in Bruce you can't exactly blame him for wanting the acknowledgment of his 'Biological' father, anyone would want the same in his shoes honestly.**_

 _ **Now for your Questions. 1) That will come in a later chapter. 2) Yes and maaaybe. 3) Probably not, as cool as that would be I think John would fit better as a regular human-I might change my mind down the road. 4) Most likely chaotic.**_

 _ **Piemaster981: Haha yeah, figured that scene would bring out a few laughs.**_

 _ **Iwymoisiraslom: It's like in Unlimited where every hero over 18 is one and don't worry Canary and Arrow are dating, I do like Felicity's character which is why she's in this. The Red-X suit will be revealed later on when he's done being Robin-not saying anything else about it right now and the pairing is still up in the air right now.**_

 _ **Bael92: Why thank you, it's fun adding the references as well as using characters that are usually forgotten because of the reboot-hope you liked how everything was shown in this chapter.**_

 _ **Slash17: The Red-X suit will have a few gadgets that I hope everyone will like and he will have them by the end of this Volume as this is his Origin Story. The Strike Industries Plotline will be developed over time and will be a major part in the next Volume.**_

 _ **Speedking535: Thanks and the pairing is up in the air at the moment.**_

 _ **Zx: Thanks and hopefully you liked how it was dealt with for the moment.**_

 _ **Knight: He will be Red-X in a few chapters.**_

 _ **Crimson Ninja: Thanks, I'm happy you enjoyed this story and John's adventures are just beginning.**_

 _ **Okay one more thing before I get off and post this, I added a bit of a summary of John on my fanfic page, it's right underneath the Pokemon one where it shows his bio, skills and gadgets as of now along with feats and weaknesses, if anyone's interested in looking through it.**_

 _ **This is Spidey Signing Out!**_


	8. Chapter 8: Pheromones

_**Chapter 08: Pheromones**_

John frowned as he had on a headset while playing Grand Theft Auto on his computer around nine at night. "Alright, all we have to do is deliver the package-." He stopped talking when an RPG hit him, eliciting a failed mission. "What the hell?"

" _ **Uh sorry?**_ " A sheepish voice came from his headset.

"You hit me with an RPG?" John asked in disbelief. "The heck Static?"

" _ **I was aiming for the helicopter that was behind you.**_ " Static answered back.

" _ **Aw man now we have to start over.**_ " A third voice came in.

John sighed as he was invited by Static and his friend Gear to play this game online and while it was fun he was now sore about being blown up like that as he spawned on a sidewalk considering the mission had to be restarted. "Hang on I'll pick you guys up-," He stopped when he was ran over by a car that drove by the driver wearing a red jacket and an owl mask along with his passenger wearing a blue hoodie with a hockey mask. "Oh come on."

If only he could use his training in this game.

' _I'll have to get those two back_ ' John thought before shaking his head. "Let me re-spawn again."

" _ **We are not having much luck are we?**_ " Static asked with Gear giving a chuckle.

" _ **I'm more amused by the messages that are popping up every time someone sees our names,**_ " Gear commented as John managed to get his car out of the garage. " _ **They really don't believe we're the real Static, Gear and Robin.**_ "

"You think that's bad I see twelve people with the name Batman pretending to be him and I know for a fact that Batman doesn't play any games like this," John commented wondering what Bruce would think about something like that. "It's probably for the best that they don't believe we are the real heroes. Last thing we need is for Godfrey to use this as an example of heroes being corrupted by violent video games."

" _ **What is his problem with heroes anyways?**_ " Gear couldn't help but ask. " _ **V-Man on your left.**_ "

" _ **Thanks dawg.**_ " Static said not bothered by the nickname on the chat as he's pretty sure Robin knows who he was. " _ **And not everyone agrees with the ideas of heroes, people still are uneasy with you and I out there.**_ "

"Because of the whole Bang Baby stigma?" John asked with a quirked brow despite the two not seeing that.

" _ **Yeah I mean sure we got our abilities from the Big Bang but that doesn't exactly make us bad guys,**_ " Static said a frown on his face at the reminder. " _ **Besides Gear wasn't even there, he just got his powers because he hung out with me after I got gassed.**_ "

" _ **It's mostly because just about every Bang Baby was a gang member so there's that, people think you were in a gang V,**_ " Gear reminded him. " _ **Some people still do.**_ "

Static grumbled under his breath.

"So, anyone find it ironic that we're playing a game like GTA while talking about this?" John couldn't help but ask.

" _ **Little bit.**_ " Static said with a chuckle.

" _ **Cool, it's not just me.**_ " Gear commented.

John smiled, finally finding the two so he stopped to pick them up. "Hey speaking of 'Bang Babies' you guys ever find Ebon?"

" _ **Nah he skipped town ever since Grodd kidnapped us.**_ " Static said not really liking it. " _ **None of the Meta Breed knows where he is as I've asked Kangor, Talon, Puff, Onyx, Shiv, even Hotstreak when he's not trying to barbecue me.**_ "

" _ **That's never a good sign, if Ebon is with the big leaguers of bad guys something big is coming.**_ " Gear said his brain now going a thousand miles an hour trying to come up with an explanation of what the shadow Gang Baby was up to. " _ **Even Rubberband Man is on edge with Ebon on the lamb.**_ "

John raised a brow at the 'Rubberband Man' part before deciding not to ask.

" _ **What about you? Any baddies on the run?**_ " Static asked curiously.

"Usually Batman takes on the costumed villains-that's his one rule with me." John said with some annoyance right as his phone buzzed.

Picking it up he look surprised to see it was from Jason.

' _ **Found a lead on Two-Face's little drug factory, meet me in the Bowery near Wonder Tower.**_ ' Jason texted him.

"Sorry guys I have to go, something came up." John said standing up as he placed his phone back up before opening his desk where he fashioned a bottom for it to hide his Robin Equipment.

" _ **It's cool, duty calls.**_ " Static said getting that.

* * *

"You're late." Red Hood commented as Robin landed behind him on the rooftop overlooking an alley were some goons dressed up as Two-Face's men were having a smoke.

"Had to sneak out because my Dad was home." Robin commented crouching next to him. "What's the problem?"

"My contact told me that both Two-Face and Black Mask are having a little sit together inside of this building to 'discuss' what to do with their little drug problem," Red Hood commented surprising Robin as it was considering who those two were this was something that no one would expect. "However both sides are planning on betraying the other which is why their men are armed to the teeth."

"So it's going to be full-out war?" Robin asked getting the picture very easily.

"Which is why we're going to stop it before it get's into the streets so we have to move quickly and quietly." Red Hood said pulling out his silenced pistols. "Come on."

With that he jumped off the rooftop, landing on a guy to soften his fall and opened fire at the startled men, aiming for their kneecaps to make them go down.

While he did that, some of the men managed to pull out their weapons only for a birdarang to slice through them as Robin flew in, kicking one guy in the chin, knocking some teeth out before disarming the other guy and using the butt of the gun to bash his face in-knocking him out.

Red Hood stared at the downed men before walking off.

As much as he would like to kill them for selling some of these drugs, he just wanted to get Sionis and Dent off the streets.

He wasn't interested in killing them like how he wanted to kill the Joker.

"So Batman doesn't know about this?" Robin asked as they snuck in, keeping their eyes open for any other men.

The disbelief was evident in his tone before Red Hood answered. "He's busy dealing with the revolving doors of Arkham." He commented with Robin frowning.

"Great who escaped this time?"

"Last night Ratcatcher, Firefly, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn and Bane escaped." Red Hood used his own version of Detective Vision to scan the room to see they were clear for now.

Although his tone went harsh at mentioning Harley but he was just relieved that the Joker wasn't in on that escape otherwise he would say screw this drug meeting and go after the clown.

"Okay all of them are dangerous so I can see why he's more focused on them," Robin muttered under his breath before pausing. "Hey I want to ask something-it concerns Nightwing."

"If it's about Golden Boy why are you asking me?" Red Hood asked a bit annoyed.

"Because it involves Deathstroke."

Red Hood paused and slowly looked back at Robin. "Just what the hell have you been up to this last month?" He asked incredulously as he now guessed that this Robin met Deathstroke to ask something like that.

"Just some training but Deathstroke made a mention of Nightwing being his apprentice before the fight," Robin looked confused. "I tried asking Nightwing but he refused to answer."

Red Hood didn't say anything as they had to pause and hide with a patrol walking buy before they sprung into action, taking them down quickly and efficiently. "It's not my story to tell," Red Hood said calmly no bite in his tone as that was one situation where he honestly felt sorry for Nightwing. "There's a reason that Golden Boy doesn't talk about it."

Robin frowned before accepting that.

Maybe Nightwing would tell him someday.

Eventually they made their way outside of a room where Red Hood pressed a button allowing for one of his fingertips to glow and pressed it against the door.

"I'm sending this to your coms too." Red Hood said so Robin wouldn't be left out of the loop.

"You have a lot of nerve Dent to pull a stunt like that, do you have any idea what I could do to you?!" They heard the voice of Roman Sionis, the Black Mask behind that door. "I can snap my fingers and you would be dead on the floor, I run this city!"

"And you can't even get rid of men like Batman and Gordon," Two-Face mocked with a slow clap. "You're running a crumbling empire Sionis."

"Don't you dare talk back to me like that freak!" Black Mask roared at him. "Unlike you I actually took the Bat down one time."

"Yes when he was deprived of sleep for days," Two-Face said and you could just hear the smirk on his face. "Your days are numbered Mask."

The sounds of guns cocking had both Red Hood and Robin tense with Red Hood giving a nod before they both kicked down the door, the former aiming his pistols while Robin had his birdarangs out at the surprised thugs while a man with half of his face burnt off turned to see them, along with a man in a white suit, a black mask over his face.

"God Damn it! What do I pay you idiots for?!" Mask shouted annoyed at how these two vigilantes got in. "None of them are the Bat for Christ Sake!"

"Really says something about your security doesn't it?" Robin taunted with a grin. "Now we either do this the easy way or the fun way."

The men opened fire at the vigilantes, forcing them to take cover. "Guess that answers your question." Red Hood said taking point to fire at them, non-lethally.

Robin grinned and threw smoke down to run in and disarm the men as they coughed, unable to see clearly through the smoke, Red Hood using the features in his helmet to see through the smoke and fire bullets in kneecaps or elbows to take them down.

Seeing that, Black Mask quickly grabbed one of his men's shotgun and aimed at Red Hood who didn't see as he was too busy dealing with some of the other men, but Robin saw that.

"Look out!" Robin called out throwing a birdarang right as the gun fired, so he pushed Red Hood back, the bullet slamming into his suit looking like it went through.

As Robin hit the ground, Red Hood paused slowly looking at Black Mask who dropped the shotgun when the birdarang hit him and was reaching for it, but Red Hood was quicker.

Red Hood just aimed and shot Black Mask right in the face surprising Robin. "Now we do this my way." He said coldly.

"The hell was that?!" Robin asked pulling the bullet off of his suit thanking whoever built this type of suit that it was able to push through this. "I thought we were sending them to Arkham?!"

"You mean the place they always escape from?!" Red Hood snapped back shooting at where Two Face as taking cover but the man grabbed one of Sionis's men to use as a meat shield-firing back at Hood in the process. "No I'm finishing this."

" _ **I want them dead!**_ " Everyone looked surprised to hear Mask's voice on the radio. " _ **You hear me?! And if you can't even follow a simple order like that do yourself a favor and blow your damn brains out instead of coming back!**_ "

"For fucks sake it wasn't even him, just a double." Red Hood cursed in anger while Two Face was calling the man a coward for not even showing his face.

"How does he keep men like this?" Robin couldn't help but question as Two-Face was by himself with the other men on the ground. "Hood-."

"Don't even try it," Red Hood told him while he aimed his pistol at Two-Face before noting the man was smirking. "What's so funny Dent?"

"Bout time you showed up." Two-Face said making both vigilantes turn to see a man wearing a black luchador mask with a black shirt and gloves along with a tank strapped to his back with hoses leading to his head as he quickly turned the dial on his hand.

Hood quickly went to shoot Bane but the man punched him right through the dry wall, knocking the guns out of his hands. "Went to see if the Bat showed up _Mella (Dent)_." Bane said to him with Dent nodding as he retreated leaving him to look at Robin who took a step back. "One of the Bat's partners?"

Robin gulped a bit as he has heard a lot about Bane.

This guy was one of Batman's most dangerous foes in both mental and physical aspects and in their first fight broke Batman's back-the only thing bringing him back was magical/physical therapy.

"I have no quarrel with you _petirrojo (Robin)_." Bane said turning to where Red Hood was already up having his pistols again.

"Bane, what has you working with Dent?" Red Hood asked cautiously.

" _Mella_ promised me the Bat, but I've heard of you _Capucha Roja (Red Hood)_ ," Bane cracked his knuckles very audibly. "Breaking you shall be fun."

Red Hood quickly began firing his pistols as Bane ran towards him, jumping out of the way cursing that the Venom was giving Bane a slight immunity to bullets, they still made him bleed but it takes a ton of them to put him down.

And Bane was smart enough to not leave his back exposed to Red Hood-.

Robin landed on Bane's back as he didn't expect for the bird boy to stay. "Sorry Dorrance," Robin said using Bane's first name. "But I'm not one to leave my allies behind."

He had a Birdarang about to cut the tubes if Bane didn't quickly reach back quicker than he expected and snag Robin by the cloak, throwing him across the room as he winced.

While the shotgun shell didn't penetrate his body armor, it did bruise him a bit, and the force of Bane's throw didn't help matters at all.

Finally Red Hood put his pistols up and quickly put on brass knuckles running at Bane, punching the man in the jaw.

To Bane's credit he didn't even flinch as he went to punch Red Hood only for the Anti-Hero to duck and punch Bane in the side, subtly reaching for the tube, but Bane kneed him in the chest, the force sending Red Hood upwards.

Right as Bane was about to punch Red Hood as he was falling down, Robin threw smoke pellets the smoke making him back up while Hood landed on the floor with a thud, getting up a second later.

"So what's the plan?" Robin asked his predecessor as nothing they seemed to be doing looked to be affecting Bane at all.

"For now just survive." Red Hood said as Bane gave a yell and ran at them. "Foot!"

Listening to him, Robin did as he was told as Red Hood boosted him to make him jump over Bane, while the older vigilante used the man's frame to dodge and do a few punches to his side, jumping back as Bane went to backhand him.

Robin quickly jumped and kicked in the back of Bane's knee only to frown as it didn't give in, but he had to duck when Bane focused on him.

Gaining an idea, Robin let out a mocking laugh. "Come on muscles you really can't hit little old me?" He asked making sure his attention was kept solely on him so Red Hood could go in to cut off his Venom supply.

Bane however smirked. "Nice try _Petirrojo_ ," He said not exposing his back to Red Hood as he broke off a piece of the column to chuck at the helmeted vigilante, making him dive out of the way, rolling to his feet. "But Bane is no fool."

It was basically a game of keep-away with how durable and strong the man was, before Robin realized the man was also being tactical as he was nearly maneuvered to the wall.

Any step could decide the victor of this fight-.

Bane finally managed to connect a hit to Robin, sending him right through the wall where he laid still in pain.

Good lord, how the hell does Bruce take a hit from this guy and get back up? Hell how did Red Hood remain conscious from that first hit.

As he laid there, Bane seemed to think he was out and turned his attention to Red Hood who began firing his pistols, one of them hitting a tube finally, having some venom leaking out.

Seeing his back exposed to Robin, the boy wonder gritted his teeth as he ignored the pain and got up, pulling a birdarang out as the man kept his attention on Red Hood.

Finally, Robin jumped on his back again and jammed a Birdarang into his tank, pulling downwards to carve an opening with the Venom spilling out.

Bane growled and moved back, slamming into the wall, forcing for Robin to let go before the man grabbed him by the head. "Just because you took out my tank doesn't take me out of the fight, _Chico (Boy)._ "

"Put him down." Red Hood warned pressing his pistol to the back of Bane's head. "Without your Venom you're not invulnerable to Bullets."

With inhuman reflexes, Bane knocked the gun out of Red Hood's hands and spun around, slamming Robin into him letting the boy go as both vigilantes were sent flying across the floor.

"I still have enough flowing through my veins to finish this." Bane mentioned.

Robin smirked despite the pain. "Thanks for getting me out of the danger zone." He commented much to Bane's confusion as the boy pressed a button on his gauntlet.

A beeping noise reminded Bane of the birdarang in his tank right as it exploded, the force making the floor come out from underneath him as he fell through three floors, landing on the ground with a sickening thud.

"Okay I didn't think it would be that bad." Robin winced both he and Red Hood pushing themselves up to look down the hole, seeing Bane lay unmoving on the ground floor.

A quick check with Detective Vision showed the man was still alive but had many broken bones from the fall alone.

"If it wasn't for the Venom in his veins he wouldn't have survived," Red Hood commented relieved that was over with before giving Robin a nod. "Nice going kid."

Maybe he wasn't as much of an idiot that he thought he was.

Although he has a strange habit of using explosions to finish fights.

* * *

"So are you going to tell me what's with the frown or do I have to guess?" Robin asked as Red Hood took him to a doctor that he trusted.

The doctor, an elderly woman with gray hair named Leslie Thompkins however had a frown as she looked over him.

Red Hood left him alone with the doctor to look over his equipment and because the doctor didn't trust him considering he never removed his helmet around her.

"What are you doing out there at your age?" Leslie finally asked giving him a stern look. "A boy like you shouldn't have to risk your life like this. The only thing you should be worrying about is school, not gang wars."

"I'm out there because I want to help people." Robin answered honestly although he easily remembered how conflicted he was when Bruce approached him with the offer.

But he has had no regrets since then.

"If you want to help people then study to be a doctor or a lawyer not be a Vigilante treating this like a game." Leslie told him. "I swear Bruce does nothing but drag kids into his war."

Despite his brief surprise at her knowing who Bruce was, Robin gave a slight glare. "I'm not treating this like a game, I know by going out there I could die," Robin told her. "And Bruce didn't drag me into this, he gave me a choice and made sure I truly understood the dangers if I did choose this."

Leslie looked at him with a raised brow as if doubting that last part. "Yet from what I hear you act like a child taunting the criminals."

"I'm not a child." Robin protested.

"You're under eighteen, you're a minor." Leslie countered with Robin rolling his eyes before she tightened the bandages on his chest making him hiss in pain. "There, not that you'll listen but I recommend you not go out there for awhile."

Robin sighed. "Thanks ma'am." He said as while he didn't like how she didn't seem to think he knew the risks, he did appreciate her treating him.

* * *

The next day, John was trying not to fall asleep as he sat in class.

Thankfully he had a lot of practice in avoiding that, but right now it was just boring.

At least report cards were coming out today-.

"Now I'm pleased to announce that there is a new student joining us today from Central City," John's head snapped up a bit in surprise while everyone in class began to mutter to themselves. "While I'm sure you may have some questions to ask him but please refrain until class is over."

With that the door opened and much to John's surprise a kid in a wheelchair came in, it was a teen boy with brown hair and blue eyes, wearing a green shirt.

"Hey there," The teen greeted with a smile. "The name's Felix Renton."

John blinked before recognizing the name.

A Katherine Renton began working at Strike Industries this last month, maybe there's a connection?

* * *

During lunch John ate alone once more.

It was mostly by choice as while people found him more approachable over the last year they were still wary of him and he didn't mind that.

Besides it meant that he wouldn't be bothered too much-.

"Anyone sitting here?" John looked up to see Felix wheeling his way to the table.

"Hey it's a free country," John said showing he didn't mind. "Felix right?"

"Yup, nice to meet you-er?" Felix looked a bit at a loss.

"John." John said not saying his last name. "So you're from Central City?"

"Yup hometown of the Flash." Felix said with a laugh. "But Gotham seems pretty interesting too."

"Yeah it has its charms," John said with a smile before quirking a brow. "So any particular reason you chose to sit here? Not that I mind but it's a little surprising."

Now Felix looked a bit embarrassed. "Well, everyone I talked to so far were uncomfortable because of my condition," He said looking at his wheelchair. "And in class while everyone was giving me looks of pity you didn't, so I figured maybe I could talk with you normally?"

John gave a nod understanding that as he learned from his training with Barbara that she hated people feeling pity because of her condition and figured that Felix would too which was why he didn't show any.

"I think it's because I know someone who's in the same boat as you," John said surprising Felix. "So what do you do for fun?"

"Oh video games, basketball, anything really," Felix said with a shrug before thinking about that. "As long as it's legal that is."

John gave a chuckle. "That's good, I'm a video game player myself, although I plan to try out for Baseball after school today."

"Hey that's great, good luck." Felix said with a grin that John copied.

"Thanks."

Unknown to the two of them this was the beginning of a long friendship.

* * *

John took a deep breath as he had on his school's team colors while wearing the baseball cap as try-outs were going on.

' _Why am I so nervous? I faced Amazo, Grundy, Bane even Deathstroke's new apprentice._ ' John told himself trying to calm down. ' _After them Baseball is nothing._ '

Maybe because as Robin he wore a mask while here he was John. Robin was carefree, a crime-fighter, someone who laughed in the face of danger.

But John was a loner who got in fights-not so much anymore thankfully.

After a second, John snorted as he was referring to himself more as Robin in his mind than John.

"Times like this I wonder which one is the mask?" John muttered under his breath before hearing his name being called.

So he walked out looking ready to do this despite how nervous he felt.

As he stood out there, John grabbed a bat and scanned some of the people who were either trying out or staying to watch the try-outs-.

He just spotted Dick who gave a wave to him sitting next to Stephanie in the stands.

After a moment, John gave a smile.

While that was unexpected he was a little happy about the support, but how did they know-.

' _Oh right I made a mention to Stephanie about this._ ' John thought realizing what happened before the pitcher got ready and he tensed.

It was all a blur for John as he hit the ball, making it to first base before they could get it.

After that, John just ran, dove and jumped to make it to the bases when he had to and when it came time for him to pitch he threw the ball like a birdarang, striking the batters out-one of them being Franklin much to his amusement.

So it was no surprise that he actually made the team and John had the biggest smile on his face.

Sure this meant he would be extra busy with everything but this was the perfect way to cover how he got coordinated and physically fit.

Soon John was just placing his new uniform in his backpack and leaving the locker room only to frown when he saw out of the corner of his eye Franklin heading for him.

So he didn't do anything when Franklin pushed him against the fence behind the bleachers. "Seriously? You do remember the number of times I kicked your ass right?" John couldn't help but say with a look.

And that was before his training with Bruce, now he would be able to take him down in so many ways it wasn't even funny.

"You took my position."

John blinked in surprise at that before remembering that Franklin was the one of the best Baseball Players in this school and him trying out most likely made the coach give Franklin a new position.

"Dude it's just a game, chill out."

The old John would've forced Franklin off of him but he didn't want to risk getting into anymore trouble, he's been able to keep his records clean this whole year-not an easy feat.

Franklin just glared and raised a fist.

Seeing that, John tensed about ready to knee Franklin in the chest only to relax with a smirk, confusing Franklin.

"And just what is going on here?" Dick asked standing right behind Franklin who tensed not sure who this was.

"What's it matter to you-?" Franklin went to ask only for Dick to show his police badge.

It might've been a Bludhaven one but it was enough for Franklin to let go, not wanting to get into trouble with the police.

"Nothing happened." John said earning a surprised look from Franklin, while John looked at Dick a silent message passing between them before he nodded and left.

"What was that?" Franklin asked suspiciously with a frown. "You could've gotten me in trouble."

' _A year ago I would've done that._ ' John realized with a sigh.

"Because I want to end this stupid feud between us." John said running a hand through his hair, he couldn't even remember why they hated each other in the first place, maybe a disagreement? "Look we're both sixteen, we're nearly adults don't you think it's time the two of us just stop and continue with our lives?"

He looked Franklin in the eye.

"So truce?" He held out his hand and Franklin just looked at him with suspicion.

"Really all this time and you're willing to a truce?"

John shrugged, kind of getting that.

This whole feud with Franklin before he met Bruce was his fault as much as Franklin's because both sides just added to it.

"We don't have to be friends but we shouldn't antagonize each other either." John told him and after a few seconds, Franklin shook his hand.

"Fine, truce." He said begrudgingly agreeing with what he said but he didn't want to admit it.

* * *

"So what was that about?" Dick asked as he was walking back with John to meet up with the Stephanie.

"Franklin and I had history long before I met Bruce," John explained to him. "Can't remember why we kept antagonizing each other but we had a talk after you left and agreed to a truce."

He then looked at Dick.

"So why didn't you tell me you were coming?" John asked curiously.

Dick laughed. "Wanted to surprise you, Stephanie told me about this and thought we could watch for a little support, Barb and Cass couldn't make it because of some issues and Bruce said he was busy tracking down some old friends."

John gave a shrug, not bothered at all by the last one, knowing that 'friends' was the code word for escapees before grinning.

It was nice to have people who cared for him.

"So you up for a trip to a nearby diner for a celebration with the others?" Dick asked with a grin. "I'm buying."

John smiled in response.

* * *

"Man these burgers are good." John said taking a huge bite out of his while Dick watched in amusement.

"Yeah but with those calories it doesn't exactly help with being fit." Dick reminded him as being vigilantes with no abilities they had to follow a strict diet rule-they don't starve themselves but they had to eat healthy to keep in shape.

So eating burgers was a rare thing for them.

"Says the guy who has a sweet tooth." Stephanie reminded the former Boy Wonder who gave a laugh.

"True." Dick conceded a smile on his face.

John swallowed the part of the burger he was eating before he spoke. "Hey it's not like we don't work this off." He commented with a shrug taking another huge bite.

Dick gave a nod before his eyes glinted mischievously. "So what do you two have planned for Valentine's day?" He asked considering that was in a week.

But John actually lost track of the date so he began to choke on his burger, leaving for Stephanie to slap his back to help him breathe. "V-V-Valentine's Day?" He asked with some slight hesitation.

It's not that he didn't like the holiday but the date never really meant anything to him.

Now however it should considering he had a girlfriend.

Stephanie heard the hesitation and gave a chuckle. "Oh we don't have to do anything because it's Valentine's Day." She said considering they've only been together for a month before John piped up.

"It's a surprise."

He kept a poker face when Stephanie looked at him in surprise but Dick saw through it and had to hold back a chuckle remembering the time he did that to Starfire-back when the holidays were new to her.

"I'll be right back." Dick said standing up to pay.

"Do you really have a plan?" Stephanie asked with a bit of a smirk.

She wouldn't hold it against him if he didn't.

"Yes." John lied kind of panicking.

He had a week to figure something out-shouldn't be too hard.

If anything he could use the Zeta Beams to take her to a different city to celebrate it.

"Besides what kind of gentlemen would I be if I ignored a day like that?" John asked earning a chuckle from Stephanie.

"What gentleman?" She teased with John wincing.

"Point." He conceded considering the things they do.

"Besides Gentlemen are too uptight." Stephanie continued a grin on her face.

* * *

John made it back home with a smile on his face-one that got bigger when he saw his father just getting off the phone with a member of his staff.

"Hey Dad." John said with the biggest grin on his face.

"What do you want Jonathon?" Benjamin asked looking at his son as he needed to get back to the company soon.

"Guess who got the top grades and made the baseball team?" John said holding his report card out proudly.

It was all straight-A's for once in his life as he put in a lot of effort to do this-there's no way his dad would be unhappy with this.

Benjamin just scoffed, making his smile drop. "I don't have time for this." He said walking past John, not even glancing at the report card as it slipped out of John's hand. "There's an incident at the company with some of our equipment disappearing and the last thing I need is a distraction."

With that he closed the door that John just came through as he looked down his eyes stinging a bit.

"Sorry." John muttered all the happiness he felt gone in a second.

* * *

Three days passed as John frowned in the Clock Tower while Cassandra was practicing Nerve Strike Kata's against a wooden dummy.

"You've been doing that for the last three hours," He commented while Cassandra glanced at him, not even slowing down. "Don't you ever get tired?"

"Nope," Cass answered simply going back to her nerve strikes. "It's relaxing."

"I play Horror Games to relax you just work harder, not sure how that works." John deadpanned to her.

Cassandra didn't let up as he said that.

"Every time I come here you're either out in the field or in here training, don't you ever stop to just be you?" John asked as the only time he's seen her relax was when they watched the horror movies, and even then she snuck out.

Sure he could count her playing tag as relaxing if it wasn't for the fact that she took to it as training.

Cassandra just gave him a look as if to elaborate on that last part.

She was always her.

Looking to be lost in thought, John snapped his fingers. "Come on, grab your jacket." He said considering it was a bit cold out.

Now the confusion was more plain on Cassandra's face and that was before they were at the Gotham Mall.

"Why are we here?" Cassandra asked a bit out of place with so many people being around wearing a black jacket that was a bit ratty but it was one she took from a biker before becoming Batgirl along with fingerless gloves a grey scarf and dark pants.

John was dressed as his Rob persona considering how he was doing this incognito, while noting that Cassandra looked like she wanted to leave.

It was far from the first time she's been around so many people, but she usually wears the Batgirl costume in doing so and kept to the shadows.

"You can't stay cooped up in the Clock Tower, you'll turn into a recluse," John said with a shrug. "Besides there are ways of having fun that doesn't involve sparring and training."

With a grin on his face as he said that, they ended up at the Arcade in the Mall.

"So you ever tried a video game before?" He asked thinking that this was just one of the ways he could show her how to just be a normal teenager.

Now Cassandra was even more out of place as she bright lights and loud sounds from the various machines made her turn her head from side to side getting a little dizzy.

' _Okay maybe I should've started something small for her to enjoy and worked the way up?_ ' John thought wincing a bit before speaking. "Uh we can try a different part of the mall if this is a bit much-?'

Cassandra shook her head not wanting to show any weakness at something like this as she took a deep breath to try and not get dizzy from the lights.

' _Now what game would she enjoy?_ ' John thought as he had to pick the right one.

Unknown to him, a certain game caught Cassandra's eyes as she saw two people competing on a dance machine and she was a bit interested in that one as it reminded her of sparring.

So she walked off towards there, leaving John as his back was turned. "Ah how about-?" He turned only to see her gone.

Blinking for a bit he crossed his arms.

"... I should really be used to this trick by now." He commented unsure of whether to laugh, sigh or be annoyed.

Looking around his surroundings, he spotted her in the crowd watching a dance-off.

So he made his way towards her. "Thanks for saying something when you walked off." He deadpanned but had a grin to show that he didn't mind that much.

Cassandra just smirked as the dance-off finished with some people cheering.

"You interested in trying this?" John asked with Cassandra nodding as she stepped up right as the two who just finished left.

There were some wolf-whistles when some people saw Cassandra-just like how there was a few when the last few people played while John walked up to see if he could beat her at this.

"You sure you want to jump in like this?" John asked both of them getting on the pads. "You never exactly played something like this before."

"Quick study." Cassandra mentioned considering how Batman taught her how to stick fight in five minutes.

"Right, almost forgot who I was talking to," John said amusement in his tone, both of them getting ready as the music started. "But you're under a time limit here."

Just as he finished they had to start moving to hit certain pads at the right time and John was easily in the lead while Cassandra frowned at how she wasn't doing as good.

After a bit she looked towards John, seeing how he was moving in comparison towards her.

Looking back at her screen she began to work a bit harder now seeing how it would work and began to catch up-John noticing quickly.

' _Okay I didn't think she would catch on that quickly._ ' John thought as he was thinking it would take a few songs before she did. ' _This is insane._ '

So he began to try and hit as many combos as he could, his lapse of focus from seeing her score allowed for her to catch up quickly before they were tied as both of them kept going.

Some cheers could be heard as the two easily surpassed the last high score and kept going.

John felt some sweat drip on his forehead his competitive nature really kicking in while he moved.

The music was getting close to ending as he kept going but the end result was Cassandra winning while John panted in surprise, seeing that while Cassandra wasn't panting she had some sweat on her forehead.

Both scores were tied.

"Best two out of three?" John challenged with Cassandra answering in a smirk.

* * *

After a bit, John sighed as he and Cassandra were walking through the mall after that. "How do you do it?" He asked in disbelief.

Seriously, it should be impossible for a person to learn stuff that quickly-unless you're a Speedster or Kryptonian.

Cassandra just looked away when he asked that, making John realize that he might've just stepped into a sensitive subject.

So he changed the conversation. "Just so you know I will win next time." He said with a grin before seeing a jewelry store and paused thinking about something.

Would it be a bit too forward to buy Stephanie something for Valentine's day there?

"Hey I'll be right back." John said looking at Cassandra. "Meet you in the food court in five minutes?"

Cassandra gave a nod as she walked off with a thoughtful look.

' _I probably made her think of something in the past._ ' John deduced with a groan.

And from how she acted a second ago it wasn't a good memory.

After a bit, he exited the store with his purchase inside of a bag and walked towards a food court only to frown when he saw maybe five or six guys talking to Cassandra and from how she looked they were annoying her.

The reason he frowned was because two of those guys he recognized as the ones who tried to help Dylan ambush him the day he met Bruce.

His frown deepened when one of them tried to grab Cassandra and normally he would've ran in there to help because she was a friend but he just hung back as the guy who tried to grab her ended up being thrown into a table, while Cassandra gave them an unimpressed look, some people getting that recorded.

For once people like them had a brain and ran off-leaving their unconscious friend in the table.

"I'm not sure whether to be surprised or not with what happened," John said approaching Cassandra. "Do I want to know?"

"Nope." Cassandra answered simply before quirking a brow at his bag.

"Uh saw something to get Stephanie for Valentine's Day." John said a bit embarrassed, especially when Cassandra just gave an amused smirk. "So what now?"

"Your question."

John blinked before realizing what Cassandra was talking about. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to-.  
"It's fine," Cassandra said as moments later they were both sitting in the food court. "I trust you along with the others."

Almost everyone else she worked with in Gotham knew her past anyways.

It was silent as Cassandra seemed to be trying to find a place to start before looking up. "David Cain."

"Isn't he a member of the League of Assassins?" John asked as that was one enemy of Bruce's.

What did he have to do with-?

Wait.

David _Cain_.

Realization dawned on John's face when Cassandra nodded, seeing that he put the connection together.

"My father. Wanted to have a successor to his-his," Cassandra said with a frown as she still had trouble speaking clearly before finding the right word. "Legacy. Taught me how to fight when I was young. Forced my first kill on me when I was eight."

John blinked at hearing that. "No offence but your Dad is an asshole." He said on hearing that feeling a little sick.

"None taken." Cassandra had a small smile as she ran away from her Dad because of that.

"Wait so that's how you can do all of that," John blinked in surprise. "Because body language and fighting is your first language?"

Cassandra gave a nod.

' _And that explains so much about her dyslexia and speech impediment._ ' John thought looking down.

Here he thought he had it rough with his Dad.

"Don't want pity." Cassandra said sharply reminding John that she can read body language as he gave a chuckle.

"Got it… Ninja Girl," Cassandra gave a confused look. "Don't like the nickname?"

Before Cassandra could answer they heard an explosion that made the two tense switching to their hero personas without costume as they heard laughter.

It reminded John of the Joker but it was a female one-.

' _Oh crap._ ' John thought remembering who recently escaped.

"See Red what did I tell you?" Harley Quinn's voice echoed throughout the mall. "A little girls day out would be good for you."

Both Cassandra and John looked at each other and gave a nod before moving to run off.

Running into the bathroom, John checked underneath all of the stalls before he began to take his jacket off to show his Robin suit on underneath-knowing that Cassandra did the same with her Batgirl uniform.

Placing his com link in his ear, Robin called the Batcave. " _ **Master Jonathan how may I be of service?**_ " Alfred asked surprising him.

"Harley Quinn has been sighted at Gotham Mall and considering she was talking to someone named 'Red' I'm assuming Poison Ivy is here too, is Bruce there?" Robin answered back quickly as he put the Domino Mask on, folding his clothes up to place in the bag where he bought the gift for Stephanie, placing it in the vent in the bathroom making a note to come back for it later.

" _ **Master Bruce was looking on a lead for the dastardly Poison Ivy an hour ago and hasn't checked back in since,**_ " Alfred answered, a tinge of worry in his tone. " _ **Do you require any back-up sir?**_ "

"Batgirl is with me in the mall, can you contact Nightwing, Spoiler or Red Hood?" Robin asked exiting the bathroom in time to see Batgirl doing the same in the women's restroom.

" _ **Master Nightwing is currently on the clock in BPD and is unavailable while Miss Spoiler is with the Birds of Prey in Star City and Master Red Hood was sighted leaving Gotham overnight,**_ " Alfred listed each one off while Robin sighed. " _ **I wish both of you luck in this endeavor.**_ "

"Thanks Agent-A, I'll call you back once this is over." Robin said turning the com link off as he looked at Batgirl. "We're on our own right now."

Batgirl gave a nod not talking like this-something he found odd but figured it had something to do with looking intimidating as bad guys don't really hear her talk.

It wasn't that hard to find the trouble as they just had to follow Harley Quinn's laughter to see the jester standing inside of the Jewelry Store that now had a busted window, dressed in her casual red and black jester outfit but what caught both crime-fighter's attention was the familiar Utility Belt hanging around her shoulder.

It was Batman's Utility Belt.

Eyes widening, Robin pulled two birdarangs out from his belt. "What are you doing with that?!" He snapped in anger.

Harley looked surprised as she turned. "Ah the Bird Brain, Mister J told me about you and you're with Batbrat too," She said with a grin as she looked at the two before gesturing to the belt. "Oh we're you talking about this? What do ya think?"

Robin went to move but Batgirl placed a hand on his shoulder, reminding him that rushing in anger was a bad move.

Especially with who this was.

"You have one chance to surrender Quinn." Robin gripped his birdarangs tightly while Batgirl tensed, ready to move as Harley Quinn didn't look too worried.

"Tempting Bird Brain but I'll have to pass considering B-Man is currently out like a light," Harley said with a small laugh. "What do you say Red?"

Robin didn't have anytime to move as a root wrapped around him and pulled him out of the store.

Batgirl went to follow but had to duck when Harley kicked the table at her before doing a handspring to do a spin kick with her moving back.

Outside of the store, Robin struggled, his birdarangs were dropped from the pressure exhibited before he saw a red haired woman with greenish skin wearing a green dress with vines clinging to her body.

Poison Ivy just smirked at him. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," She warned making the root squeeze more with Robin grunting in pain. "I have a tendency to squash birds."

"Ivy, the heck are you doing in a Mall with Harley?" Robin asked trying to distract her. "Don't you usually stick to green houses or parks?"

"Don't even try it," Poison Ivy said another root grabbing his hand that tried to reach for his belt. "Now as for your question I like to mix things up a bit and Harley invited me."

Robin suddenly felt himself get a bit light-headed and was beginning to check Ivy out before he shook his head.

' _Pheromones._ ' Robin reminded himself knowing of Ivy's tendency to control men and some women.

"Oh what's wrong don't find me attractive?" Ivy questioned in a mocking tone seeing that Robin was trying to resist her pheromones.

"No I have a girlfriend and I'd rather not have this happen." Robin muttered letting that slip because of his dizziness. ' _Come on, snap out of it._ '

He tried picturing many things to get his mind off of this and nearly make himself throw up in disgust.

But eventually his mind was clouded as Poison Ivy placed a finger on his chin and lifted his face up. "Nice try, but not even Batman can resist my allures for long."

That was when Harley was thrown out of the store doing a back flip with Batgirl running out, seeing the scene so she threw some batarangs at the root to blow it up, making Ivy scream in pain while Robin fell like a rag doll before Batgirl jumped and caught him, ending up jumping off the second floor and using a grapple to swing to the first floor.

Seeing his dazed look, Batgirl smacked the back of his head-snapping Robin out of it.

"What just happened?" Robin asked in complete confusion only to see Batgirl giving him a look as the memory came back to him, making him blush a bit. "N-Never mind I'd rather not know."

The two of them grappled back up only to see that the two were gone.

"Great, two costumed criminals out there and Batman is MIA." Robin muttered looking around. "Any chance you got information from Harley while Ivy tried to enslave me?"

"No." Batgirl said sounding annoyed.

"Great." Robin muttered as he bent over near one of the destroyed roots blinking a bit as an idea came to him. "Hang on."

He turned his computer on his gauntlet on and typed in a few things.

"Thought so, this is an extremely old root." Robin looked at Batgirl. "You mind passing me a batarang?"

Batgirl tossed him one as he calmly cut into the root, taking a deeper look in their sample, scanning it with Detective Vision.

"Agent-A, can you calibrate the masks scanners to track this?" Robin asked sending the scanned sample to the Batcomputer.

" _ **Indeed I can, think you can use it to track where Miss Ivy and Quinn are heading?**_ " Alfred asked through the coms link.

"It has a trace of her pheromone signature in here, an upgraded one so we can find her with it no matter where she hides in Gotham." Robin had a grin on his face.

* * *

An hour later the two were sneaking into an building that Robin found ironic considering it was an old Strike Foundation.

"Alright the strongest trace of her is in here." He muttered with both he and Batgirl sneaking through the vents. "Think Batman is here too?"

"Could be." Batgirl answered back before they saw a group of thugs walking on patrol-you could tell they were being controlled from how they walked as Harley was sitting in a chair humming to herself looking at some stolen jewelry.

"Where's Poison Ivy?" Robin asked not seeing the Meta.

Batgirl elbowed him. "There." She pointed for him to see her entering the room.

"Good news is that there are no guns but we have two costumed villains down there." Robin muttered looking around. "Should we stick to the shadows and clear the room or try to take Ivy out first?"

"I'll clear the room," Batgirl said knowing the attention would be on her. "You find Batman."

"And leave you alone with this?" Robin asked gesturing to the people below them.

But Batgirl was already on the move-she knew what to do even before her feet hit the ground and in a few seconds four guys were knocked out, with both Harley and Ivy looking at her in surprise.

"The Batbrat?!" Quinn pulled out a gun, but Batgirl threw a batarang knocking it out of her hand.

Robin just stared as this was Batgirl when she wasn't holding back.

Shaking his head, he moved now knowing she could handle this.

After a bit of sneaking around, Robin managed to find Batman who looked like he was tied up.

' _Something's not right._ ' Robin scanned the room not seeing anyone as he slowly approached his mentor.

As he freed Batman, Robin realized what it was.

It was the fact that Batman was tied up when he could've gotten out of that easily but it was too late as Batman kicked Robin, knocking him back.

Coughing in surprise, Robin looked up to see Batman with a blank expression showing he was under Ivy's control.

"Oh this is going to suck." Robin said now wishing he was doing what Batgirl was doing rather than this.

 _ **To Be Continued…**_

 _ **Yeah cliffhanger, hope you liked what was shown so far and next chapter will show Robin fighting a hypnotized Batman while Batgirl is taking on Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn-I'm going to try and get that out within the next three days-but no promises.**_

 _ **But a lot has happened here from a small cameo of Static and Gear-even if they aren't seen to the team-up between Red Hood and Robin against Bane after crashing the fight between Black Mask and Two Face-more will be shown on the latter two soon. We also had John and Cassandra hang out for a bit-just as friends as in the comics just about every member of the Bat Family is a workaholic-something that will happen to John later on.**_

 _ **Plus we see John actually making the Baseball team and finally ending the small feud with Franklin-wanted to tie that up a bit.**_

 _ **Finally yes Felix is from Kim Possible-no that doesn't mean she exists I'm just adding Felix because he has a lot of potential and I guess you can say he'll be Red-X's Oracle in the future.**_

 _ **So let me answer the reviews so I can post this.**_

 _ **Dark King Marcel: Haha thanks and hopefully I'll get the next one out soon.**_

 _ **DannyPhantom619: Thanks and Origins is nearly over-already have a plan for the Red-X suit though.**_

 _ **Kival737101: Thanks and I looked at it, nice challenge.**_

 _ **Deaddragon42: As fun as that sounds I think I'll stick to this guy staying in DC for awhile.**_

 _ **Nightmaster000: Thanks and yeah I wanted to showcase that while they were formidable and did good against Grundy they aren't exactly a team. Yeah John and Stephanie aren't the final couple, but I'm glad you're enjoying this so far. Oh Dick will be surprised when he learns who Ravager is and it was nice to have her and John as Robin be a bit like rivals although she won't make another appearance until Robin is Red-X. Yeah Slade always does have a purpose and it will be revealed later on. Neo and Roman as a member of his Rogues huh? Interesting. She will be mentioned from time to time, but her returning as a villain? I might do something like that. Nyx will make an appearance in the next Volume when he's Red X.**_

 _ **Knight: Well it'll be complicated-no more without spoilers.**_

 _ **Coldblue: Damn having a cold sucks, hope you got better or will soon. Yeah it was a new experience typing the date as I wasn't really sure what to do-I didn't want to just gloss over it like I did in past stories. It was fun typing a casual John hanging out with Kaldur and Iris with Cinderblock coming in and it's nice to see that I succeeded in making it a throwback to the 'good' Titans cartoon that came before 'TTGo.' The training is the most interesting part as there are so many veterans compared to John so he's able to learn a lot from different people. The fight between Robin and Ravager was the most fun as I figured Ravager would want an actual fight instead of an easy one.**_

 _ **Now for your Questions. 1) Possibly, but not too close with Slade of course. 2) That is going to be the final fight of this story-ending the Origins Volume as he'll be Red-X at that time. 3) I'm not saying anything about it as there is a plan for Nightstar entering. 4) Yes they'll eventually become a team but not for awhile-for now they're just helping each other out and being friends.**_

 _ **Crimson Ninja: Haha yeah those were a lot of fun to type.**_

 _ **Bael92: Yeah-it was challenging to add them in even if some were brief but also realistic in a way-at least I'd like to think so. Good eye with catching the throwback to the first team-up with Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad.**_

 _ **Slash17: Thanks for that-the interactions always make the story interesting. Grodd's true intentions won't be revealed until late on Volume 01 of this story and Shriek will make his debut near the end showing the first fight between him and Red-X.**_

 _ **Iwymoisiraslom: I have no idea what you mean about characters being 'nerfed'... Never heard that term before. I'm going to try and use a lot of DC-although it takes a lot of research as well. They'll do both their own thing and on occasion do covert work for the League.**_

 _ **Alright, this is Spidey Signing Out!**_


	9. Chapter 9: Lighting the Fuse

_**Chapter 09: Lighting the Fuse**_

John has done a lot in his year as Robin but he was pretty sure they all pale in comparison with what he was doing right now-.

"Oof." Robin was sent back, his body armor skidding on the concrete floor, but got back up quickly to put some space between him and Batman-no the man being controlled by Poison Ivy.

There was some solace as while he was being controlled he wasn't exactly making strategic moves due to not being able to think, but he was still dangerous due to the muscle memory in how he moved.

It would only get worse if Poison Ivy came in here and began to control Batman herself but with Batgirl keeping them busy he has a chance to snap the man out of this.

Robin quickly brought himself back to reality when Batman lunged at him with a kick that he had to block but the force behind it sent him stumbling back before he got punched in the stomach followed by a left hook.

He was getting his ass kicked here.

Tasting some iron from that punch to the cheek, Robin winced as he rubbed it in pain before spitting some blood out.

"Batman come on it's me," Robin said trying to snap him out of it before grappling into the shadows thinking that with him being controlled that would be the safest option. "Your partner? Any of this ringing a bell?"

Batgirl managed to get him out of being controlled so he should be able to do it to Batman.

And though Robin would deny it he was hesitating in this because this was his mentor not an enemy. That was why he has to think this through.

Batman just remained calm and walked around the room, not making a move but Robin could tell from how tense he was that he was waiting for Robin to strike.

' _Batgirl I hope you're having better luck than I am._ ' Robin thought slowly making his way through the shadows only to yelp when a Batarang barely missed his head.

That was before it blew up after hitting the ceiling causing for some of the debris to knock Robin out of the rafters, slamming into the walkway that was on the second floor the suit absorbing the impact.

' _Okay where the hell did that Batarang come from?! Doesn't Harley still have his belt?_ '

His head ringing from the blast, Robin was unprepared when Batman landed in front of him, grabbing him by the cloak and slamming him into the wall.

Having enough, Robin used the wall so he could lift his feet up and kick Batman in the chin, making him back up before the Boy Wonder kicked off the wall and delivered a right hook on Batman, knocking him off the walkway.

Peeking over the edge, Robin frowned as Batman was nowhere to be seen-.

He dove out of the way as he heard the sound of his cape above him as Batman landed right where Robin was a minute ago, putting his fists up in preparation.

Robin copied the action, his breath labored from this as the injuries he gained from this fight were really taking their toll.

* * *

Batgirl blocked a kick from Harley Quinn as the clown kept doing handstands and springs to fight her.

Just like the Joker, Harley was one of the few people who Batgirl couldn't really read as to her their body language was screaming all over the place.

"Come on Batbrat is that the best you have?" Harley asked keeping Batgirl on her toes while Poison Ivy frowned.

If Batgirl was here then Robin had to be but where-?

She heard the explosion in the next room and smirked.

Ah that's where he was.

"Hey Red you mind lending a hand?" Harley asked with a smile that made Poison Ivy chuckle.

"Here you go." She waved a hand to some of the plants that were placed in there and watched as they mutated into beasts that roared, making Batgirl tense while pulling some freeze discs out only to see the men she took out slowly getting back up.

She was in a bind due to having to hold back because a lot of these people were just civilians that Ivy brainwashed.

Seeing the plant monsters coming right at her, Batgirl threw the freeze discs killing them as Ivy glared darkly now.

"Ooh you made Red mad." Harley taunted reaching the table to grab an over sized hammer that she began to twirl around like it was a baton.

* * *

Robin landed on the ground with some bruises on his cheeks and quickly tossed some flash bangs making Batman back up before he did a flip to land on Batman's back putting him in a choke hold.

Although if anyone walked in it looked like he was trying to get a piggyback ride.

"Bruce it's me!" He whispered still trying to break him free before Batman jumped back hitting the wall making Robin cry out. "Damn it how do I-?"

An idea came to him as he sighed.

"If you can hear me, sorry about this."

He kept one arm around his neck before reaching into his belt to pull out one of the shock discs but as he did that, Batman grabbed the arm and slammed Robin into the ground, sending the shock disc away before twisting the arm he was still holding.

Robin cried out in pain as his arm was dislocated from his shoulder before he was picked up and thrown across the room into the wall where he slid down right next to the shock disc.

His vision blurring, Robin looked up to see Batman slowly walking towards him before he grabbed the shock disc and threw it, the gadget landing on the stomach of the Batsuit before it emitted a huge spark that forced Batman to one knee, effectively breaking him from the control.

As that happened, Robin quickly stood up, using the cloak to hide his dislocated arm when Batman slowly shook his head unsure of what just happened before hearing footsteps and quickly got ready only to see Robin who looked like he has been through hell.

"Please tell me that broke you out of Ivy's control." Robin said hiding the pain from his tone.

"Robin." Batman said using the code name just in case they weren't alone and he saw Robin sigh in relief at the fact that his mentor spoke, proving he was free from Ivy's pheromones.

Looking around the room, it didn't take long for Batman to piece together what happened.

"Are you alright?" Batman asked looking at his partner seeing some blood on the floor and due to how he felt fine-if not a bit sore he knew it wasn't his.

"I'm peachy." Robin said and that was when Batman realized how he was hiding his arm.

"Show me your arm." Batman told him with Robin wincing before he let it slide out of the cloak.

"Just dislocated, it can be fixed quickly." Robin said seeing how Batman frowned in anger at himself for letting Ivy control him like that. "Batgirl has been distracting Quinn and Ivy while I came to find you-."

"Stay here," Batman said as Robin has been through enough for the night but he stopped and quickly fixed his arm making Robin cry out. "I'll be right back."

Robin sighed as he sat down wincing with his arm. "Got it boss." He said not wanting to complain.

Between him and Batgirl they can take Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn down easily.

* * *

Batgirl kept her composure as the hypnotized people were tied up with bolas while she was dodging the hammer that Harley was able to swing without slowing down.

This woman was definitely stronger than people gave her credit for and she also had to worry about stray roots that would pop out of the ground to try and snag her.

Ivy raised a hand about ready to finish this as the ground behind Batgirl began to crack only to hear something land behind her and she turned before Batman punched her across the face-the surprise attack sending her back a bit.

Harley turned to see that. "Hey B-Man get away from her-."

That was all the distraction Batgirl needed when she grabbed the hammer to disarm Quinn before kicking her feet out from underneath her to finish this with a punch.

Ivy quickly got up to see Harley was down before Batman landed in front of her while Batgirl unhooked the Utility Belt from Harley and threw it at the man who caught it without looking. "So the Boy Wonder managed to snap you out of it."

"It's over Isley." Batman told her placing the belt around his waist.

"Over? Why it's only begun." Ivy focused as a huge root erupted between her, Batgirl and Batman, the root showing itself to be a man-eating Venus Flytrap that shot down to snap Batman up as he quickly jumped back.

Its roots shot out to slam Batman off of his feet making him duck underneath him and Batgirl both throwing Batarangs at the roots before he saw Ivy run off-.

Into the room where he told Robin to stay.

And he couldn't exactly chase after her with the giant plant roaring at him.

Pressing a button on his belt, Batman looked at Batgirl. "Move!"

With that he grappled to higher ground, Batgirl listening right as the Batwing crashed through the roof firing at the giant plant, killing it.

* * *

"Alright the hell is going on out there?" Robin muttered hearing roars and feeling the ground shake only for Ivy to walk into the room.

' _Note to self when Batman tells me to stay put, hide in the shadows._ ' Robin through pushing himself up despite how sore his body was before a root wrapped around him.

"You're becoming quite the pest." Ivy told him sensing that her plant was just killed and knew she didn't have much time.

Robin just smirked at her. "I have that effect on people." He said his head starting to feel fuzzy.

' _Damn it not again._ ' Robin thought as he closed his eyes. ' _Come on don't fall for it-don't f-fall._ '

Ivy smirked as Robin was now under her control-quicker this time as he was exhausted before she let him go right as Batman and Batgirl burst into the room.

"Robin be a good dear and take care of them." She said despite knowing he would be a distraction at best.

Giving a slow nod, Robin ran at the two taking some birdarangs out to throw, covering Ivy as she ran from the room.

"Get him out of her control." Batman ordered moving after Ivy, using his Gauntlet to block a birdarang.

Batgirl threw her own batarang to counter the second one and slammed a palm strike in Robin's chest-a light one to knock him off balance before kicking his feet out from underneath him as he hit his head clearing it.

"W-What?" Robin muttered but Batgirl didn't take any chances and knocked him out.

As that happened, Batman frowned managed to cut Ivy off, placing a gas mask over his face when he threw a few smoke pellets filled with herbicide-a small dosage to avoid it being lethal to Ivy but enough to weaken her and kill the plant creatures she made to defend her.

"You'll pay for that." Ivy managed to cough out as Batman moved in an jabbed a pressure point in her neck, knocking her out.

* * *

"Did you have to punch me?" Robin muttered rubbing his jaw as the Police were escorting Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy into the Armored Truck, an inhibitor collar on Ivy, Batman was in the distance talking with Gordon.

"Didn't want to risk it," Batgirl explained in an apologetic tone. "You ok?"

"Give me a day or two to sleep it off and I'll be good," Robin said knowing he will be sore in the morning and it was only four in the afternoon right now. "Being mind controlled sucks."

He saw Batgirl's posture shift and knew she was a bit amused.

After a moment, Batman approached them again. "We're heading back to Oracle's to get you both checked out." He said showing no room for argument in his tone as they did just go up against two dangerous criminals, he also wanted to make sure that all of the pheromones were out of John's systems.

"Uh can we stop by the mall first to pick up our civvies?" Robin asked a bit sheepishly.

Later that evening, John looked annoyed as he sat in the Clock Tower after getting some blood drawn, his costume off while he had his Rob outfit on.

"Didn't realize you were scared of needles." Barbara commented running the blood sample through the data base.

"I'm not scared of needles," John denied a bit weakly. "I'm just uncomfortable in having something go in my skin."

Barbara just gave him an amused look, making him look away.

"S-Shut up."

"Nice comeback," Barbara teased, the computer beeping a few seconds later. "Alright you're in the clear but you're immune system is weakened because of this so you'll have to be careful for the next few days."

John gave a nod to that and this time Barbara saw something was wrong.

"You okay?" Barbara asked giving John a look. "You're not acting like your normal self."

"I'm just annoyed at how easily I was controlled." John said and Barbara would've bought it if she didn't know how to spot a lie.

Barbara just quirked a brow and crossed her arms, making John uncomfortable before he sighed.

"It's stupid."

"John we all moonlight as Vigilantes, trust me it can't be stupid." Barbara said in good humor with John giving a small snort.

"Yeah, it's just I thought I was doing good with my fighting skills." John confessed despite how he might've sounded arrogant by doing that. "I know it's only been a year but after everything from Scarecrow to the Society, I kept myself ahead but tonight when Bruce was being controlled-."

"You saw how far you had to go?" Barbara finished when he trailed off, knowing what he meant and she was right when John gave her a surprised look. "I went through the same ordeal when I was Batgirl, did I ever tell you of how I got that role?"

John shook his head in confusion.

"Before I knew Batman was Bruce I tried to force him to take me on to be his protege," Barbara said remembering her teen years fondly. "Although he gave me the cold shoulder when I made my first appearance."

"I can imagine." John said a bit dryly.

Bruce was a bit cold at times these days, John could only imagine just how the man was before he accepted any help in the past.

"Yeah he even threatened to tell my Dad to get me to quit, but I was pretty stubborn." Barbara looked to the side where her old Batgirl suit was in a case and John saw a hint of longing as she looked at it.

John found himself wondering just why Barbara remained like this as Bruce should've been in a wheelchair after meeting Bane the first time and yet he prevailed because of the treatment he received.

So shouldn't Barbara theoretically be able to obtain the same treatment.

But he didn't voice it as he smiled. "Thanks Barbara." He said to the woman who over the year became like an older sister to him.

"It's no trouble, oh and Bruce wanted to talk with you after you're done." Barbara said surprising John who was worried that it might be about the fact that he and Cass went up against Ivy and Quinn who were extremely dangerous.

"Right." John said giving a nod, leaving the room where he saw Cass back to practicing her Kata's while Batman was using the main computer to access something that looked like it involved Black Mask, but he looked at Cass. "Seriously?"

Cassandra just smirked, knowing what he meant. "This normal for me." She said with John giving her that. "But thank you."

"Hey it was fun." John said happy that despite what happened he got her to have fun in a way that didn't involve masks or being a vigilante. "So don't worry about it Ninja Girl."

Cassandra turned and gave him a dry look for that nickname while John just grinned.

"Next time I'll beat you at that game though." John promised and Cassandra smirked in response to that challenge.

While she returned to her activity, John walked up to Batman.

"How are you feeling?" Batman asked not even turning around.

"A little sore but nothing some rest won't cure, you?" John asked as Batman didn't look at him, instead cupping his chin as he analyzed what he was scanning.

"I'm well," Batman said not really answering the question. "You were with Jason when Bane was hospitalized weren't you?"

John tensing a bit was all the confirmation that Batman needed while noting that Batman asked that quietly showing that he wanted this conversation private. "For the record I had no idea Bane would be there."

"And yet you knew Dent and Sionis would be."

"... Yes." John answered truthfully.

He was surprised when Batman didn't look too angry as he gave a nod, not knowing that Batman traced a phone call from Jason to John's phone showing that Jason seemed to trust John to an extent and was relieved about that.

"So… Am I in trouble?" John asked hesitantly not sure what to expect.

"No, you're not." Batman said as John looked relieved. "But no patrol for the next few days until your injury heals, we'll be working on your training for a bit more."

John gave a nod expecting that as he went to leave.

"John," John paused and looked back as Batman allowed a small smile. "Good job on your schoolwork."

On hearing that John's eyes widened and he looked a bit flushed. "T-Thanks." He said a bit happier, although he was surprised that Batman made a comment about that.

* * *

John was extremely nervous a few days later, trying to get his hair to look neat as he was dressed in something casual but nice enough.

Today was Valentine's Day and he wanted it to go perfect as it was the first one where he actually had a Girlfriend.

His Dad always took a business trip out of Gotham on Valentine's Day, no doubt thinking of his Mother at the time, something that John took full advantage of as he was currently cooking Dinner.

Cooking was a skill he picked up over the years, even before his Dad put in all effort in the company and he asked Alfred for advice on certain recipes to make it all better, the man wishing him luck when he heard why he asked.

Right now it was just a Roast along with Potatoes and Carrots that were diced.

Wasn't too elaborate but John thought that it would be good.

"Okay I still have time." John muttered checking the roast.

Stephanie shouldn't be coming by for another hour or two, so he could still work on stuff to get ready.

He wanted this to be perfect.

John then pulled a silver locket out of his pocket, the gift he bought during the day at the mall.

Hopefully Steph would like this.

"Okay is there anything else left out?" John muttered his eyes roaming the apartment seeing next to nothing about stuff being left out-.

The doorbell rang much to John's confusion as he checked the time again.

"If that's Steph she is early," He muttered walking to the door to answer it only to see Dick. "Don't you usually sneak in?"

"Figured I could try the normal way." Dick said flashing a grin. "How's it going here?"

"Good, Dad's on another business trip so I figured spending Valentine's Day here wouldn't be that bad of a start." John said rubbing the back of his head. "So what's up?"

Dick suddenly looked nervous. "Hey do you mind if I come in?" He asked surprising John who quirked a brow and opened the door wider.

"Alright now you're worrying me," John noted closing the door. "Since when are you nervous-?"

He stopped when Dick pulled a small box out of his pocket surprising John who quickly put together what Dick had planned.

But he couldn't resist the joke. "Sorry but I'm not your type."

Dick gave an amused snort. "Very funny Little Wing," He said some of his nervousness gone. "I've been thinking about it ever since Kory came back, but I need a second opinion."

John briefly wondered why Dick came to him before thinking about the other choices being either the Titans who were a little biased in this, Bruce, Barbara, Jason and Tim and could see why Dick wanted to ask either him or Alfred.

"I'd say you're an idiot for second guessing yourself here," John said with a smirk at him. "If she makes you happy then go for it."

"I'm second guessing because I don't want to screw this up." Dick said with John giving a shrug.

"Can't really help you with that, but do you really think Starfire will say no?" John asked not really used to calling her 'Kori' like how Dick was apparently.

Dick's silence making John blink.

"Wait you do?!"

"She's the Princess of Tamaran, me proposing could cause a political storm." Dick explained his reasons for why he was truly hesitant, not saying anything about that marriage fiasco that nearly happened when he was still Robin.

"Damn," John said not thinking about that before shaking his head. "It's Starfire's choice though in the end so just suck it up and ask her, otherwise you'll be worrying about this for a long time."

"Way to be blunt." Dick said with a smirk while John laughed.

"No use beating around the bush here." John said his eyes flickering from Dick to where the Roast was still cooking, not wanting to burn it.

Dick saw that and gave a nod. "Thanks, I'll ask her during dinner tonight."

"Where are you taking her?" John asked curiously.

"There's this restaurant in Jump that I think she'll like," Dick said with a grin. "I figured that it would be good to do this in Jump considering that was where we met and formed the Titans."

"Good luck and be sure to invite me to the wedding." John said before Dick could leave.

"Thanks and good luck with you as well."

Once he left, John smiled and turned back to the roast, adding some water to ensure he doesn't burn it or dry it out.

Two hours later, John heard the doorbell rang right as he was placing the roast on the table and quickly threw the oven mitts back in the kitchen. "Coming!" he called out making sure the locket was hidden in his pocket as he was dressed nicely in a suit.

Reaching the door, he saw Stephanie who was in a black dress as she gave him a smile. "You look nice." Stephanie commented with John giving a nod.

"Same to you." He returned letting her in where she looked surprised to see candles lighting up the room along with the meal on the table along with the balcony door having two chairs where one could see the stars from there. "What do you think? Is it too much?"

"John you didn't have to go through all of this trouble." Stephanie said looking at him because she thought they were just going to go out to eat at a restaurant.

"It was no trouble at all." John responded, closing the door before they walked to the table where he pulled out a chair for her. "Uh you don't mind roast do you?"

He didn't think about finding out what she liked in his panic of setting something up.

"I don't mind it." Stephanie said easing his worries. "It smells delicious."

John flushed a bit as he sat on the other side of the table. "Thanks, I take pride in my cooking." He said as before becoming Robin it was one of the few things he was good at.

The two of them got into some small talk, some of it banter as they were eating, both had their phones out just in case they were called in as Robin and Spoiler.

Although it seemed as if nothing was going on in Gotham for once-either that or Batman didn't really require any help at this moment.

After clearing their plates of food, the two were sitting outside on the balcony, looking up at the stars while a radio was softly playing music near them.

"You went all out with this." Stephanie commented, John taking the time to scratch his cheek a bit sheepishly.

"Too much?" He asked as he read books, looked online and asked for advice in an attempt to make this as perfect as he could.

"Just spending the day like this is enough." Stephanie told him.

She meant it to because with their lives as Vigilantes it was things like this that truly mattered and she didn't want him thinking that he messed up in some way on the date because she truly enjoyed herself.

John took that in before another song started and he smiled, standing up while holding his hand out. "May I have this dance?" He asked trying that line out as she looked a little amused.

"Never took you for a dancer." Stephanie said as John never mentioned anything like that, but accepting the hand nonetheless.

"Etiquette lessons that Dad had me take when I was younger." John commented with a shrug, the two getting into a small rhythm. "Training helped it out a lot more, although I think I still have two left feet."

"I'll be the judge of that." Stephanie commented and for the rest of the song they remained quiet, just being there looking each other in the eyes.

When the song ended however the two didn't notice, being lost in their own little world before they both closed the distance and kissed.

Moments later they were back to sitting after a few more songs, their hands clasped together, John however had his other hand in his pocket where the locket was and took a deep breath.

"So I got you something as well." John said catching Stephanie's attention before he pulled the locket out making her eyes widen. "I saw it and thought you would like it."

"It's beautiful." Stephanie said accepting it before grabbing her bag to pull something out. "I got you something to John."

In her hands was a silver watch.

"I had Barbara's help in upgrading it," Stephanie said surprising John who felt like an idiot for not doing that with the locket. "It's nothing really special but there's a defensive measure in it-a small sleeping dart."

John blinked and pressed the button to have the face plate come up like a cross hair.

"... I really should've added something to the locket." John muttered liking the gift but feeling a bit guilty.

"Hey it's alright, I love it." Stephanie told him with a smile, placing the locket around her neck while John put the watch on.

John smiled, making a mental note to do something like that next time.

For now they were just going to enjoy the rest of the night.

* * *

The next few days after Valentine's Day passed by like any normal days with John getting more into the role of being Robin and working harder on improving his fighting skills.

Getting his butt kicked by a mind controlled Batman really made him want to better himself even more and right now both he and Batman were patrolling the streets of Gotham.

It was actually a slow night considering, but that made Batman uneasy as he was expecting for something big to happen.

Robin didn't blame him either considering how the last few days both Dent and Sionis men were getting even bolder along with Cobblepot making moves.

If things continued like this it would be a full out gang war soon enough.

"Anything?" Robin asked with them landing on the top of the Ace Chemical Building, overlooking the district they were in.

Batman's grunt was all the answer Robin needed making him sigh before he sat on the edge, feeling a bit bored.

Batgirl and Spoiler were both on patrol in another district and he heard that Red Hood was in Bludhaven as there was a bit of a complication with him and Nightwing earlier that day-he hasn't really asked about what though.

Robin was about ready to take the Shock Box out to see what the others were doing before he saw Batman turn and look at something.

Seeing how his attention was caught, Robin followed his gaze to see a woman running across the rooftops.

This person was wearing a skintight black catsuit that had a cowl along with red-tinted goggles covering her eyes and a whip holstered to her side.

' _Is that Catwoman?_ ' Robin couldn't help but think as that was yet another acquaintance of Batman he has yet to meet as she has been out of Gotham for a good year, only hearing about some of her thieving exploits in Central City, New York and Coast City.

Batman didn't give any orders as he jumped and glided towards her so Robin followed.

They barely landed when Catwoman turned and smiled at Batman. "Batman my favorite stalker." She said in what Robin could tell was a bit of a flirtatious tone making him blink as he looked between Batman and Catwoman.

' _Huh, so the rumors are true?_ ' He thought not expecting that.

"What did you steal?" Batman got right to the point with Catwoman looking amused.

"No foreplay?" Catwoman asked with a smirk.

Robin coughed uncomfortably. "Uh if you guys are going to flirt do I really need to be here?"

He regretted that with how Batman looked at him as soon as the words left his mouth.

Catwoman however gave a chuckle. "Quite the bold prodigy you have there Batman," She said walking around the vigilante, tracing a finger on his body armor while doing so. "Even he sees the sparks."

' _Okay now I'm starting to feel like a third wheel._ ' Robin couldn't help but think when Batman spoke, showing that what she was doing didn't seem to bother him.

"What did you steal?" Batman asked again showing he wasn't in the mood.

Catwoman rolled her eyes behind her goggles. "Is it so hard to believe that I actually didn't steal anything?" She asked rhetorically.

"Well you are a well-known thief," Robin inputted his arms crossed. "What other reason would you have?"

Then he went quiet, thinking about the flirting that Catwoman did with Batman.

"On second thought I think I'd rather not know."

"You're a pretty cheeky kid," Catwoman said with a smirk on her face, sounding amused before a more serious look came across her face. "But I need to speak with Bruce alone."

Batman's face set into a frown, not an annoyed one as he knew that this had to be serious.

So he gave Robin a look, making him sigh. "Alright I'll see you back at the Cave-er do you want me to tell Alfred that you might be gone for the night?"

Batman's glare was enough for him to wish he kept quiet despite how Catwoman looked amused and he left.

Once Batman was sure that Robin was out of range, he looked back at Catwoman who adopted a more serious look. "What is it Selina?"

Taking the time to take her goggles off, Selina's green eyes pierced through his cowl. "I need your help to construct a file for our daughter."

For the first time in years, Batman was taken aback with what he was pretty sure was a dumbfounded expression showing.

"What?" He asked not expecting this.

* * *

John tapped the sides of his desk in school a week later with a frown on his face as he looked over the homework he did the other night while waiting for class to start.

This last week… It's been weird.

Ever since he left Bruce and Catwoman-Selina Kyle if he remembers from the file correctly-alone on that rooftop, Bruce locked himself in the Batcave not leaving it at all leaving the slack of the city up to him, Cassandra, Stephanie, Barbara and Dick.

John knew that the others were just as worried as he was and not even Alfred would mention anything and the teen hero knew that Alfred had an idea of what was going on but was keeping mum about it, only saying that Bruce was busy with another priority.

' _Still this is Batman for crying out loud what on Earth could make him lock himself in the cave?_ '

"Hey John, everything alright?" John turned to Felix who looked at him with a quirked brow. "You're pretty quiet today."

"I'm good, just thinking on something my Dad said." John lied while Felix shook his head.

"Don't let him get to you." Felix commented having the unfortunate pleasure of meeting Benjamin one time when he was visiting his Mom at work and let's just say the man didn't make a good impression.

John chuckled a bit, looking away.

As good as his Vigilante life was going, his Civilian life was just as good as he had a friend outside of it that he got along with pretty well.

"So you want to play Basketball this Saturday?" Felix asked making John chuckle.

"You're on." John said knowing that despite being in a wheelchair, Felix was pretty good at the sport because of the motorized wheelchair that he used-after messing with it for a bit.

"Hey did you hear there's a new student in the school?" Both John and Felix looked up at hearing that.

"Really? A guy or a girl?" The friend of the student who spoke up asked.

"Man it was this smoking hot girl, I saw her at the front gates earlier."

"Whoa really? Give me the dets."

"Another new student?" John muttered in surprise.

"Sweet, no more being the new guy." Felix looked happy while reaching into his bag for a pair of wireless headphones to listen to some music.

John shook his head in amusement. "Whatever you say Felix." He said looking back at his homework.

While the idea of a new student seemed interesting, John didn't think it mattered to him as this 'new student' seemed to have a different class.

Little did he know however this new student was a lot more than she would appear to be like.

* * *

During Lunch, John sat by himself once more-usually Felix would've sat by him but he was picked up by his Mom because of a doctor's appointment so he wasn't too bothered by it.

At least now he could try and figure out why Bruce wasn't being his usual self-.

John blinked when someone sat across from him and looked up to see a girl his age that he swore looked familiar if it wasn't for the fact that he hasn't met her before in his life.

This girl had shoulder-length raven black hair and blue eyes that seemed to be judging him a bit as he blinked in confusion.

She wore the standard female school uniform-.

John stopped and looked a bit closer.

The way she was looking at him was reminding him of how Bruce looked at him before he became Robin.

To be honest it was a little weird.

"Uh can I help you?" John asked not sure what was going on.

The girl smirked a bit. "What? A girl can't come sit at a table?"

"No a girl can, I'm just wondering why you're looking at me as if I kicked your dog." John said a bit of a frown on his face.

Instead of answering, the girl ate a bite of her lunch. "Jonathan Strike right?"

John tensed a bit. "Depends on who's asking." He said now seeing this was the new student that began that day.

"Helena Kyle."

No sooner did the name Kyle leave her mouth did John look at her a bit incredulously.

The moment that Catwoman returned to Gotham a week later someone with the last name Kyle starts attending Gotham?

And now that he looked a little closer she looked a bit like how Selina Kyle did compared to the pictures in Catwoman's file.

"Keep staring like that Bird Boy and people will talk."

John was about to make a retort before he stopped, realization dawning on him.

She just called him 'Bird Boy'.

John leaned back a frown now on his face not denying or confirming that. "Any relation to a Selina Kyle?" He asked sharply with a smirk being the only answer. "How did you know?"

"About your nightlife?" Helena looked him in the eye. "It wasn't exactly easy as there's barely anything that links you and Bruce together."

' _Yet another person who knows that Bruce is Batman._ ' John couldn't help but think.

For one of the world's greatest secret a lot of people sure know it.

Her next words however surprised him. "I want to fight you."

"... Come again?"

"I want to fight you," Helena repeated without any hesitation before smirking. "Unless you're afraid of losing."

John glared at her as she smiled coyly. "You're on." He said before he could stop himself.

* * *

Bruce sat in the cave overlooking the test results once more on the DNA between him, Selina and this Helena.

Once he heard the full story he understood why Selina came to him because while this Helena might be 'his' biological daughter she wasn't 'his'.

No she was from an alternate reality.

… One where he and Selina got married.

One where he never adopted Dick or anyone else, where the mantle of Robin was hers.

He sat back from the screen and looked down, trying to figure out a way to send her home-if it was still there that is.

Along with this Helena there was another Kara Zor-El that appeared in Metropolis in a Boom Tube injured, looking for Darkseid, Superman ended up talking with her alongside the Kara of their world and the Man of Steel gave him the heads up as it turns out Helena came with that Kara before they were separated because someone messed with the Boom Tube right when it closed resulting in them ending up in this world.

Selina ended up finding Helena in her Robin gear as she was heavily injured because of that Boom Tube incident and the girl made the mistake of calling her Mom before passing out from blood loss which resulted in the situation Bruce found himself in as her Robin suit was hanging nearby.

Of course when Batman met with Helena to talk with her-after running the paternity test multiple times to be sure that no mistake was made-he learned that wasn't one of his best calls as it turned out his alternate self recently died in her world and she witnessed it.

That was why they had her file on this Earth written down as Kyle rather than Wayne as he felt that she needed time without going through the storm the media would draw up if a 'Helena Wayne' appeared out of nowhere here.

Eventually, Bruce closed the file and sighed.

He hated it when alternate realities got involved because they always made things so complicated.

This was his daughter and yet it wasn't.

He didn't know whether to feel fear for what this meant-something he hated-or pride in the fact that she's a strong young woman.

But it also made him feel regret because now he thought of the future that was once possible for him and Selina and see it in her.

A future that couldn't happen because of the choices they both made in the past.

Soft footsteps broke Bruce out of his thoughts. "Is Selina here?" He asked Alfred without turning around as the Cat Burglar has been visiting a bit more often this last week while he's been making the files to help Helena live a life here if they couldn't find a way to send her home.

"No Master Bruce, you've missed Dinner last night and Breakfast this morning, I forbid you from missing Lunch," Alfred said placing a meal down. "Miss Kyle isn't here currently and the young Miss is beginning her first day at Gotham Academy."

Bruce gave a nod at hearing that, not realizing he's been up all night once more.

Time just seemed to fly when he was down here.

"Master Richard is here though and is currently sleeping in his old bedroom, he insists on talking with you soon," Alfred said looking at Bruce. "He's worried about you, they're all worried about you."

"I know but I need time." Bruce muttered not knowing how to really talk about something like this.

All of his years as Batman never prepared him for a situation like this.

But there was another reason.

On learning she was the only Robin in her world, Bruce was worried about how she would react to meeting the current Robin or the previous ones.

He still remembered how Dick took to Jason becoming Robin at first and how Jason was downright hostile to Tim taking the mantle.

* * *

John met up with Helena in a discreet location for them to have their small 'spar' on a rooftop after school, John dressed up as Rob just in case someone saw him while Helena had her hair tied in a ponytail, wearing sunglasses.

"Okay this is ridiculous." John commented on the fact that the two of them were wearing sunglasses.

Helena didn't say anything and got in a stance-one that showed John that she was no stranger to fighting.

In fact that stance was strangely familiar.

So he slipped into one of his own, although Helena stopped at seeing that.

"That's a beginner stance," Helena stated surprising John as he did that on purpose to see if she would catch it. "Are you taking this seriously?"

"I am, I'm just testing something out." John said giving a chuckle as he grinned. "So who taught you that stance?"

"My father." Helena stated before she rushed him.

John barely blocked the punch before catching the kick with Helena moving with fluid motion making him back up.

Okay she was good, on the level of Dick and Jason good.

With that in mind, John did a handspring to kick her back but she threw up her forearm to block it, not deterred by that, John kept on his hands to spin around to use his other foot to kick that she had to lean back to dodge before he got into a brawler stance to throw punch after punch.

They kept this little dance up for a bit before Helena got the first blow in, managing to elbow his chest and delivered a palm strike to his chin, sending him on his back to where he used the momentum to roll to his feet.

He noticed a small glint in Helena's face at that as she continued to press her advantage but John feinted to knee her only to use his palm to get her back, catching her off guard.

"You're good." Helena said when they broke apart to catch their breath.

"Had a good teacher." John replied to which Helena smirked to as if she knew something he didn't.

"Same here."

With that said they continued to spar, John having to improvise quite a bit as she definitely had a lot more experience before he managed to kick her feet out from underneath her and pinned her.

"I win-." John began only for something to slam into him with no warning as a pained yelp erupted from him when he flew into the wall with enough force to crack it and felt as if he was hit by a truck.

Landing on his side in pain, John only saw a girl with blonde hair and glowing red eyes glaring at him wearing a black t-shirt, a blue hoodie and blue jeans.

Before he passed out he distinctly heard Helena call out. "Kara stop!"

Kara Zor-El who now went by Karen Starr, looked at Helena in surprise as the guy she just tackled off of her friend fell unconscious, her red eyes turning back to normal blue as the urge to use Heat Vision faded.

"Helena you alright?" Karen asked using her X-Ray vision to scan for any fractures on her best friend.

She came to Gotham to visit her friend when she saw her fighting this creep and originally stayed out of sight because she thought Helena could handle it easily before this guy surprised them a few seconds later by actually knocking Helena off her feet.

When he moved to pin her was when Karen shot in, consequences of a pissed off Batman be damned because she knew enough about Gotham to not interfere when it's her friend in trouble.

"I'm fine I'm more worried about this Earth's Robin that you just shot into!" Helena snapped making Karen realize the mistake she made.

She hit the guy pretty hard thinking he was a criminal that was trying to force himself on her friend.

"Wait what were you doing fighting this world's Robin?" Karen asked not expecting that.

"I challenged him to a spar," Helena explained to Karen who quickly checked John to see that she only bruised him and didn't break any bones thankfully. "If I knew you were coming I would've warned you that I was doing this."

"I wanted to surprise you." Karen said to Helena while looking a little apologetic.

Helena sighed as she reached into her bag where she kept some supplies she managed to sneak out of her Utility Belt before the Batman of this Earth confiscated her costume much to her displeasure and pulled out a bottle of smelling salts.

Uncapping it as she placed it under John's nose he woke up coughing in pain. "Ugh someone get a number on that semi that hit me?" John asked in a bit of a pained joking tone before seeing Karen and tensing, ready to unzip his jacket to where his Utility Belt was.

"Uh sorry about that, I didn't realize this was a spar." Karen said looking sheepish.

John just stared, thinking to how she looked to be floating and appeared out of nowhere.

That and the fact that Helena called her 'Kara'.

The only person he could think of that fit her description was Supergirl but this looked a little young to be Supergirl who from the files Bruce had was in her late twenties.

No this one looked to be close to his age.

Still that didn't mean she wasn't a Kryptonian.

"Uh hey you alright?" Karen waved a hand looking a little nervous. "I didn't give you a concussion did I?"

"No, just trying to figure out what the hell happened." John muttered pushing himself up, having to use the wall for support for a second as his head swam dizzily due to how fast he stood up.

Taking a deep breath to orientate himself, John decided to hell with it. "You were called Kara before I passed out," He said making Helena look surprised as she thought he was already unconscious when she stopped her friend. "Yet you look a lot younger than the Supergirl I've heard of."

Unless someone tried to clone her again and he was looking at the result of a second Galatea.

Helena and Karen shared a look before the former sighed. "Come on." She said thinking that an explanation was in order here.

* * *

Moments later the three of them were eating at a Cafe with John drinking a lemonade waiting for one of them to start.

"You asked if I was related to Selina Kyle earlier, I'm her daughter." Helena revealed with John nodding before she decided to just drop the bomb. "My birth name is Helena Wayne."

"Pfft!" John spat the lemonade out on the table in shock, coughing from that revelation. "What?!"

Thankfully it was a shocked whisper to avoid people looking towards them.

"Was that why Bruce has been acting weird all week?" John asked with wide eyes. "You're his daughter?!"

"Well yes and no, I'm from another Earth." Helena explained to him. "Both Karen and I are."

"That… Explains my next question." John said looking between the two now seeing that his guess to Karen being a Kryptonian was right, this also explained how she figured out he was Robin being the biological daughter of the Batman.

Wow this was his first time meeting someone from an alternate reality.

"So why did you challenge me to a spar?" John asked curiously fingering his shades.

At this question, Helena looked down at her drink, slowly stirring it with her straw.

John blinked and went to ask what she was doing when Kara shook her head slightly right before Helena looked up.

"Because I was Robin on my Earth before we ended up here." Helena said surprising John. "Dad never adopted anyone."

That made John realize what she meant. "So the Robin legacy was yours in your world?" He asked in surprise as despite being Robin he did face the issue of just using the name while it truly belonged to Dick.

This also meant that on being stuck here she couldn't exactly be Robin as he was currently using that role and didn't plan on giving it up anytime soon.

"Damn no wonder you were pissed at me earlier." John commented with Helena looking surprised before laughing.

"No I wasn't pissed, just a little annoyed," Helena told him. "You're pretty good, a little rough around the edges though."

"Heh thanks." John said the incident with Batman being controlled flashing through his mind making him grimace a bit. "I still have a lot to learn though."

Shaking his head he looked at them.

"So what's your Earth like?" He asked curiously as the thought of another Earth sounded interesting.

Irey explained a little about it as the Flash family has the most experience with inter-dimensional travel due to being able to vibrate their bodies at the right frequency to open a gateway to another world, although the girl said she hasn't been able to do that yet because she was still learning to control her speed.

He saw Kara perk up from his question as the Kryptonian began to explain a lot about her Earth like the criminals being cryogenically frozen to avoid them escaping or how Thomas Wayne was actually alive in that world.

In return he explained a few things about this world to trade notes on what was different.

* * *

Later that day, John was by himself just walking through the Diamond District of Gotham, still dressed up as his Rob persona.

After the talk with Helena and Kara-or Karen as she insisted he called her due to how there's another Kara on this Earth which made it a bit more confusing, Karen took off with Helena wanting to hang out for some 'girl-time' or something like that in Metropolis.

Probably for the best as Batman would be pretty angry if they remained in Gotham, but John couldn't help but wonder just what was Bruce like on that Earth?

One where his father was alive and where he never lost Jason?

He must be a bit more light-hearted on that Earth.

"John!" John blinked and looked over to see Tim Drake walking towards him with a friendly grin.

"Tim? Haven't seen you in awhile how's it going?" John greeted with a smile at his predecessor giving him a handshake.

"Pretty good, my school's on break so I'm back in Gotham for a bit." Tim explained with a chuckle. "How's Gotham Academy going?"

"Well things got a bit more interesting with a new student." John said not sure if he should say anything about this or not but shook his head. "Is your Dad still watching you?"

"Nah, I think he finally trusts me again as I haven't dressed up in uniform for a year," Tim said his voice taking a bit of a bitter tone but he hid it with a smile. "Speaking of which I've heard you've been making a name for yourself lately."

John gave a chuckle and Tim could see just how different John was since he last saw him.

Instead of the angry teen he once knew, this John was a bit more carefree and friendly. It seemed that inheriting this role has been good for John.

"So you want to hang out-?" John began to ask only for an explosion in the building near them to interrupt causing for both Robins to quickly take cover in surprise before they saw the building that was destroyed.

"Isn't that one of Black Mask's buildings?" Tim asked in surprise with John giving a nod before seeing a man quickly driving off dressed like one of Two-Face's men.

Quickly memorizing the license plate, John gained a look of dread.

The Gang War finally began.

"Robin I need you to report to the Clock Tower, now!" Batman's voice came through the com link.

"On my way." John said without any hesitation before looking at Tim. "You going to be alright?"

"Hey I'm a former Robin I'll be fine." Tim replied with a grin despite the conflicted look on his face.

He chose a hell of a time to return to Gotham.

But as John took off, Tim couldn't help but be worried about how this could go down.

… Could he stay on the sidelines while this was happening?

* * *

Inside of the Iceberg Lounge, the Penguin watched the News about the bombing of a building said to belong to the notorious Black Mask with a look of satisfaction on his face while holding a glass full of wine that he sipped.

Life was good.

The door opened after a quick knock to show a man dressed as a part of Two-Face's crew entering followed by one dressed like he belonged in Black Mask's crew, both of them having soot on their clothes.

"I see that the bomb for Mask was set off, did you get Dent?" Penguin asked his men the guy in the mask giving a nod, taking it off.

"They didn't suspect a thing boss." He said with Penguin giving a chuckle.

He's been watching the tension between the two gangs for quite awhile and finally decided to use it to his advantage. All they needed was a little push.

And when they kill each other he'll swoop in and take over this city.

"You did get rid of the vehicle's right?" Penguin asked the two men giving a nod. "Good, head downstairs to get cleaned up and for your money, also get some decent clothes on."

As they left, Penguin chuckled.

The best part about this, the damn Bat and his lackeys will be too busy trying to save people who will die in this Gang War and if he's lucky this might be the thing to finish those pesky vigilantes off.

But for now he'll have his men lay low and conserve their resources while Mask and Dent waste theirs.

Penguin paused seeing his office get a bit dark and slowly reached for his Umbrella before it was gone. "What the-?"

Penguin then found his chair turned around to be staring at the costume that at first made him think this was the flash before realizing just who it was with the suit being yellow instead of red and the man having red eyes.

Right behind him was Shade who looked a little amused by what was going on.

"Hello Cobblepot," The Reverse Flash greeted with a dark smile. "I have an associate that would like to speak with you."

 _ **To Be Continued…**_

 _ **Phew, man this one took awhile and I want to apologize for not getting this out earlier like I planned to, but I hope you enjoyed what happened with everything from the Valentine's Day date in the beginning-my first time doing something like that-to the surprise of Helena Wayne appearing-she won't be Huntress in this fic as Helena Bertinelli is still alive-hope that threw some people through a loop.**_

 _ **Anyways like I said in the last chapter of my Yu-Gi-Oh Gx/Creepypasta story I'm getting ready for a move that will be happening soon-this one will be the last one and that's why I haven't been able to type as much as I used to-so again sorry for that and thank you everyone for being patient.**_

 _ **Now this story itself is reaching its end soon-the max number of chapters I plan to have in this particular volume is 15-16 chapters and John will only be Robin for one or two more chapters before he begins the transition to Red-X and that is when Shriev will make his move.**_

 _ **So let's answer the reviews and get this out of the way.**_

 _ **Dark King Marcel: Thanks and sorry for the wait.**_

 _ **Kival737101: He'll stay in Gotham but he'll also be mobile to where he'll have adventures in other cities.**_

 _ **Bael92: Thanks that was pretty tough to type as I didn't want to mess up Bane's character, yeah more like a beat down to the disciple from the master though.**_

 _ **Nightmaster000: Thanks and yeah while typing it I realized that John has been using explosives quite a lot. Yeah Felix will be John's 'Oracle' much later and John is forming his own team, the main members were already shown when the Society kidnapped them-their name will be revealed much, much later. Yeah Benjamin is quite the jerk, but there's a reason for it-in the next Volume of the Red-X story I'll be showing a bit more about the past to show just why Benjamin acts the way he does.**_

 _ **Slash17: Why thank you and I'm happy you enjoyed the classic Batman characters and hopefully you liked the fight between John and Bruce-if you can call it that-and no I haven't seen the Lego Batman movie but I plan to eventually.**_

 _ **Knight: Yup that's quite the character and his character will be expanded on in the next Volume.**_

 _ **Crimson Ninja: Sorry for the long wait.**_

 _ **Iwymoisiraslom: Yes he'll be getting training outside of the Batfamily and I have plans for a lot of them.**_

 _ **Coldblue: It's cool, sorry for the late post to this story. Yeah John's character has come a long way from the first chapter in this story, back then he could barely handle one guy with a broken hand. Now he can handle the likes of superhumans. The bonds he's been making with the other heroes and members of the Batfamily are one of the best things to type and while the date was the hardest part I hope I managed to get it right. Haha yeah the Justice League vs Teen Titans moment with the dance machine, I figured that would've worked well as a bonding moment between John and Cassandra. Yeah John got the shit beaten out of him by Bruce because as good as he is he has only been doing this for a year compared to Bruce. Yeah Cassandra is an awesome character and I like that I've been expanding on hers just as much as everyone else's.**_

 _ **Now for your Questions. 1) A little because John has been doing pretty well so far without one but the temptation to do so is there. 2) Not yet but he will soon. 3) Eventually he will get a wheelchair like that but for now it's just a normal motorized one. 4) I did think about that but like you said the whole test for drugs while playing Baseball would make that hard to do.**_

 _ **Matt: Now that will be a hell of a thing to type and funny to boot, but not for awhile.**_

 _ **Guest4: Sorry for the wait.**_

 _ **HGWells: Hey there, sorry for the wait, a lot has been happening.**_

 _ **Qed: Well it's not really much of a fight but sorry for the wait.**_

 _ **Alright, I'll try to get this next one out sooner than last time so this is Spidey Signing Out!**_


	10. Chapter 10: Gang War Part 1

_**Chapter 10: Gang War Part 1**_

Robin sighed looking tired as he sat on the top of a closed dumpster in broad daylight with five different people tied up around him.

It's been a week ever since that bombing in Black Mask's building and that was the powder keg that sparked a war in Gotham.

Hearing more gunfire, Robin bit back a groan and fired a grapple gun to move towards it.

Gang Members were gunned down in broad daylight, more places were bombed despite both the Police and Vigilante's best efforts working together a lot more than usual and people were more scared especially because one of those bombs made another mass breakout in both Arkham and Blackgate which caused the schools to close down until people could restore order with a warning for people to stay inside.

Batman theorized that Black Mask and Two Face most likely did that last one to keep them busy, but that didn't mean that it was annoying, especially since he had Robin on the lookout for the Mad Hatter and Ratcatcher who were spotted skulking about this part of Gotham.

While Robin was happy that his Mentor was apparently trusting him to go against Costumed Criminals now he was more worried because the man was on the trail of the Riddler, Zsasz, and some new nut job calling himself Deacon Blackfire or something like that.

Coming to where he heard the gunfire, Robin looked surprised to see the people already tied up before hearing footsteps and smirked.

"Nice job." Robin said to his girlfriend while Spoiler sat on the ledge next to him.

"I aim to please." Spoiler said sounding out of breath and that worried Robin.

They were all stretched pretty thin here.

"How long have you been out?" Robin asked the concern showing in his tone making Spoiler chuckle.

"Just a few hours, this is nothing how about you?"

"Same, I think Nightwing and Red Hood are even working together uptown." Robin said checking the crime radio that was in the computer on his gauntlet to make sure he would be ready if anything went down. "Man I've never seen Gotham this bad before."

"Makes me think about how regular people are taking this." Spoiler muttered with Robin giving a solemn nod. "So did you know about this Black Bat that showed up a few days ago?"

It took a few seconds for Robin to realize who she was talking about and gave a nod. "Yeah she's a Robin from a parallel earth and couldn't exactly take that name." He said thinking back to how Helena took on a new identity to continue fighting crime in Gotham.

Although he didn't mention anything about her being Batman's daughter as he felt that Helena would share that on her own time.

Robin will admit he was surprised that she came back to crime fighting already but given what's going on at the moment he probably shouldn't be too surprised.

Spoiler just looked at him with Robin imagining the befuddled expression under her mask. "Why does that sound normal?"

At that Robin laughed. "We dress up in tights and fight crime for free, I think normal went out the window years ago," He said the police radio going off. "I have something on rats converging in Plesa Park, time to catch the Ratcatcher."

"I swear you sound like something from a comic book sometimes when you say stuff like that." Spoiler said shaking her head coming with him.

"Hey you love me for them." Robin quipped with a smile.

* * *

"Rise my rodents for we will take Gotham!" Otis Flannegan, the Ratcatcher declared dressed in a green tattered cloak with a gas mask covering his face, unkempt brown hair cascading down his mask while he carried a staff.

Surrounding him were hundreds of rodents, some of them huge due to being in the Gotham Sewers as the Ratcatcher smirked under the gas mask.

All of these rodents carried life-threatening diseases and with his ability to control them he will send them to spread across Gotham before his demands were met.

Nothing, not even the Batman can stop him-.

"Dude you really need some therapy." Robin announced himself on a tree branch with a disturbed look at finally meeting the Ratcatcher.

"What's this? I thought that I would be dealing with the Bat not one of his children." The Ratcatcher scoffed a bit offended.

"With people like Riddler and Killer Croc loose you really think he's going to worry about someone like you?" Robin asked seeing Spoiler getting into position while he kept the attention on him. "Still consider yourself lucky Red Hood isn't here otherwise you'd probably be worse off."

"I refuse to be underestimated by a child." Ratcatcher made a motion and all of the rats made a beeline for the tree that Robin was in.

Now Robin will admit this unnerved him because something about this was just messed up before he jumped to climb into the tree, leaving 3 small explosive discs while the Rats began to climb before jumping off and grappling away right as it went off, the blast radius killing the rats that were trying to get to him.

"My children," The Ratcatcher took the nozzle spray that he kept strapped to the pack on his back and aimed it at the teen still in the air,intent on using the poison gas on him. "I'll get you for th-."

Someone tapped his shoulder and he turned to have an escrima stick slam against his face cracking the gas mask before Robin landed on him, giving Spoiler an appreciative nod.

"Nice job keeping him distracted," Spoiler mentioned with a smile before jerking her head. "We should get him to Arkham."

"Yeah last thing this city needs is the Rat Plague going on," Robin muttered checking back to make sure he killed all of the rats with that explosion before seeing Spoiler shake her head. "What?"

"We need to limit your usage of explosives." Spoiler said with Robin giving a nod.

"You fight your way and I'll fight my way." Robin said crossing his arms.

Okay sure he could get a little less destructive but they get the job done fine.

* * *

"Unhand me, I am the future ruler of this City!" Otis screamed decked out in a straitjacket while some Arkham Orderlies were taking him away. "I will take you all down with my army!"

"Good job stopping Flannegan's Plague Plot." The Chief of Security Aaron Cash congratulated the two vigilantes. "So far we have him, Clayface and Humpty Dumpty locked back up."

"What about the others?" Spoiler asked thinking about the ones that didn't escape.

"We had Poison Ivy transferred to Belle Reve, the Joker locked up in a new cell deeper in Arkham with Harley located on the other side of the Asylum, Bane is still recovering from his fall and recently we had Cluemaster transferred here after that attempted riot at Blackgate." Aaron listed off and Robin saw Spoiler stiffen up on hearing that last part.

"Cluemaster is here?" Spoiler asked quietly with Robin giving her a worried look before he paused at seeing a young woman with short brown hair and amber eyes walking in, looking through a clipboard.

"Cash we're going to need another cell prepared, one of Gordon's men managed to pick up Maxie Zeus after he ran into Batman." The woman said looking up to see the two vigilantes. "Taking up babysitting?"

"Hardly," Aaron scoffed in good nature. "They just brought in Otis Flannegan. Robin and Spoiler this is Violet Danvers one of our top Psychiatrists."

Out of the corner of her eye, Spoiler saw Robin give a low smile before nodding. "It's a pleasure, anything we can do to help?" The way he spoke seemed off as well to her.

"No offense but given how volatile the inmates can be I don't think that's a good idea." Violet said not wanting an attempted riot at the sight of the vigilantes.

"Probably for the best, we need to head back out there," Spoiler said with Robin giving a nod, the two quickly leaving before Spoiler looked at him. "You know her?"

"She's my Mom's little sister and she blames Dad for her death." Robin explained with a sad smile, not going into the explanation that Violet also hasn't really spoken to him as John, something he wished was different.

He then looked at Spoiler right when they exited the Asylum the girl going quiet after his explanation and he had a feeling there was another reason.

"You okay?"

Spoiler went silent for a few seconds. "You know who the Cluemaster is." She said knowing that it was more likely that he knew a bit of her background upon getting her name.

"Found out by accident, Batman had me study all the files on the various people he fought over the years." Robin said truthfully. "You haven't seen him since he was incarcerated have you? You want to talk about it?"

"He stopped being my father when he became the Cluemaster," Spoiler said with Robin taking that as a no before she sighed. "I'm going to continue my patrol, good luck with Hatter."

"Thanks." Robin said the two of them easily making it to the bridge to the city and used their grapples to launch themselves in the air. "Kick some ass."

* * *

Landing next to a stone gargoyle, Robin jumped off, scanning for radio signals that would match the Hatter's hypnosis masks.

While he was confident he could handle the Hatter, Robin knew there was a risk he would be caught in the hypnosis if he let his guard down and that incident with Poison Ivy was fresh in his mind.

Robin paused at seeing another familiar signal and made his way to it to see Nightwing just finishing up some gang members. "I think you missed one," Robin called seeing one trying to crawl away but the acrobat quickly knocked him out. "Never mind."

"Just wanted to give him a fighting chance, how's it going on your end?" Nightwing asked glancing at Robin.

"Ratcatcher is down, I'm just trying to find Hatter before I got a hold of your radio signal." Robin answered with Nightwing giving a smirk. "You?"

"Jaybird decided to head out on his own towards Crime Alley." Nightwing said getting to one knee to check some of the gang members tattoos to ensure something. "I'm just here keeping the streets clear."

Robin didn't say anything about that guessing that Jason went towards Crime Alley to check on that doctor friend of his who treated the boy wonder after that incident with Bane.

Instead he smiled slyly. "So how did Starfire take the ring?"

Glancing up, Nightwing gave a smile to show his answer earning a bout of laughter from Robin. "We haven't decided the wedding yet, you should've been there when Beast Boy and Cyborg found out."

"I'm guessing the word party came up?" Robin asked remembering their psychological profiles.

"Yup," Then Nightwing sighed and rubbed a gloved hand over his hair. "It's great."

That worried Robin as Nightwing sounded a little melancholy. "What's wrong?"

"It's just that things seem to be going great if you discount the Gang War, maybe I've spent too much time with the old man but I can't help but think that something's coming." Nightwing said seriously, a frown overcoming his face before Robin lightly elbowed his stomach.

"Whatever it is there's more than one hero out there to take care of it," Robin said a grin on his face. "You just worry about the big day once this blows over."

At hearing that Nightwing cracked a grin before a call came to their coms. "Killer Moth was spotted, I'm going to head there." He said typing a response to Oracle letting her know that he'll handle it.

"Need a hand?"

"Nah Moth is someone I fought from my Titan days he'll be easy, you focus on Hatter, last thing we need is for him to kidnap an Alice during all of this." Nightwing responded with Robin giving a nod accepting that.

"Right, catch you on the flip side." Robin said taking off, back to tracking Hatter's signal and he found it. "Bingo."

But upon reaching where the signal originated from, Robin blinked at seeing the Mad Hatter all tied up with a nasty bruise on the side of his head. "Little late to the party aren't you bird boy?"

Turning at that familiar voice, Robin saw a girl his age wearing a black uniform with a yellow bat symbol on the chest, a purple utility belt along with a purple cape that was yellow on the inside much like his cloak and a purple eye mask that tipped upwards a hint of silver going across her shoulders.

"Black Bat," Robin greeted Helena Kyle who gave a cocky smirk. "I didn't realize you were on Hatter's trail as well."

"I was just on patrol when I came across him." Black Bat commented looking at the unconscious Hatter. "He doesn't have a concussion but he'll still need to be treated for that injury."

Robin shrugged not that bothered.

He and Black Bat began to form… A very interesting rivalry ever since their spar, if anything the way they acted with each other was the same as how he and Speedy acted when they competed to see who get's the most bad guys.

"Was Gotham this bad in your world?" Robin couldn't help but ask with Black Bat shaking her head.

"Considering we froze most of the bad guys no it wasn't." Black Bat said with Robin tilting his head to the side.

That sounded like something they should consider with how things are going.

"Any word from the big guy?" Black Bat asked with Robin sighing.

"None, other than the fact he took Maxie Zeus down earlier." Robin said cupping his chin in thought. "If we could just find Dent and Sionis we could end this Gang War once and for all."

' _And Jason is already on a bit of a warpath looking for them to make up for letting them get away._ ' Robin idly thought right when they heard chuckling and saw the Hatter was awake.

"Want to find the two heads you best be prepared," He said most likely from the hit to the head while smirking at the two. "For when all is done none shall be spared."

"Another difference between our world, our Hatter doesn't rhyme." Black Bat muttered shaking her head while Robin found himself wondering about what the man said.

Hatter just implied that something else would be happening and yet he could just be making stuff up due to the injury.

This was something to report to Batman.

"So how have you and Kara taken to this world?" Robin asked curiously to make conversation the two now taking to the rooftops to continue the patrol, Robin now having nothing to really do since Black Bat took care of the Hatter for him.

"It's weird," Black Bat muttered earning a quirked brow from Robin. "Besides the obvious it's hard to believe how different everything is."

"Any breakthroughs on trying to get back?"

"None, Kal and Da-... Bruce are doing everything they can." Black Bat stopped herself from calling Batman 'Dad' something that Robin felt like he understood.

It must be hard to be in a world where your parents never got married. To have to remember that while they were her parents they also weren't.

"Hey I'm sure they'll find it," Robin said with a smile before his com link went off showing there was a disturbance nearby. "Well, looks like the breaks over."

As it turned out Black Bat got one as well with Batman allowing for her to be in on the coms, so they both split up, wishing each other luck in the process.

* * *

Landing in the area where the disturbance was located, Robin frowned as it was all empty except for a dead body that was literally nailed against the wall. "What the hell?" He muttered approaching it.

Below it the words 'IMPERFECT' were painted while the face of the body was covered up with gauze and the fingertips were melted to the bone.

"Okay this is new." Robin muttered using Detective Vision to find that all traces that could identify this person was gone. "Oracle there's a dead body in Dixon Docks, I can't identify this."

" _ **Give me a moment,**_ " Oracle began to use the camera in the Robin mask to scan the body. " _ **Strange, the face was cut completely off, there aren't any distinguishing marks do you want me to call Batman?**_ "

"Depends, how busy is he?"

A moment later Oracle answered. " _ **He's currently engaged with the Riddler in a Death Trap,**_ " She answered dryly not that worried because Batman was solving said Death Trap. " _ **Let me do a deep tissue scan.**_ "

Giving a nod, Robin messed with his mask as the Scan began to delve deeper to the muscle and tissue instead of the skeletal structure where they found a replaced kneecap that would narrow the search results.

" _ **Still not enough.**_ " Oracle muttered as while it did narrow it down there were 300 names to choose from on who this could be.

"Let me look into this a bit deeper," Robin said actually enjoying this-not the dead body part but the fact that he was actually using his training besides fighting to figure something out.

Once more he messed with the scanner and found a tumor in the lungs, narrowing it down once more to twenty people.

"Okay we have to find something-," Robin stopped seeing something else. "Hang on, I'm picking up something in the stomach."

Switching the scanner back to normal he saw a ring in there much to his surprise with the name 'Evans.'

Just like that the name was down to one file.

"Alright the victim's name is Victor Evans, he's a retired Athlete who ran Track before blowing out his knee and contracted Cancer when he began to smoke after the fall of his career." Robin summarized with a frown. "The ring came from his wife leaving him because of how his career ended prematurely."

Robin felt a twinge of sympathy for the guy before Oracle spoke up.

" _ **This is strange, according to the Missing Persons report he disappeared in Coast City four months ago.**_ " Oracle said surprising Robin.

"Why would he disappear there only to end up here?" Robin asked quietly before cursing.

They had nothing else to go on for this, no clues to tie together, nothing to reference.

And no idea on how this happened.

" _ **I'll let Batman know about this, he'll look into Victor Evans to see if we missed anything, if there isn't we can't do anything but wait.**_ " Oracle said some annoyance in her tone at saying this.

Their hands were literally tied without any more information to go on.

Robin gritted his teeth before giving a nod, knowing that she was right.

Didn't mean he had to like it.

Leaving the area, Robin sighed and grappled to a rooftop, sitting on the edge.

There has to be a way to end this war before anything else happens.

They need to find Black Mask and Two Face and take them down.

But nothing they tried was working before Robin paused and took out the shock box.

He hasn't spoken to any of the others since this fight began and had it turned off to avoid any distractions but maybe there was a chance he could get some help from the others in locating the two.

But he hesitated.

Batman had the strict no meta's policy in Gotham for a reason.

If Metas began operating in Gotham, the criminals upgrade to bigger weapons and with them means more power.

That's why powerful beings focus on Metropolis because Superman operates there along with New York due to Wonder Woman basing the Themysciran Embassy there.

Only Batman and other 'non-powered' heroes operated in Gotham and because of that all the criminals upgrade their weapons instead of abilities.

So by calling the others for help he could actually escalate the Gang War instead of finishing it.

' _But if I don't more people could die._ ' Robin thought feeling a little overwhelmed by this train of thought.

His thoughts however were interrupted when he heard an alarm ringing in the distance, making him pocket the shock box and move towards it, all his thoughts gone as he was just focusing on ending what was going on.

Making it to the source of the alarms, Robin crouched when he saw a man in red lined white suit and black pants walking in the middle of the street, twirling a cane while whistling cheerfully, a black bowler hat covering orange hair, his other hand was holding a bag that Robin could see with Detective Vision carried nothing but jewels.

' _Who the hell is this?_ ' Robin thought in confusion before tossing a birdarang at the ground in front of him to get his attention.

Looking up the man smirked, amusement showing in his green eyes with some black eyeliner around them. "Well now isn't it dangerous for a kiddie like you to be out?" He asked seeing Robin, while resting the cane against his shoulder.

"Who are you?" Robin asked with a frown seeing that this man was extremely confident.

That meant he knew what he was doing or he was underestimating Robin, it was most likely the latter but Robin wasn't going to assume that until he knew better.

The man smirked at that. "Oh no one in particular, just call me Torchwick." He introduced himself, tipping his hat as if being polite before aiming his cane right at Robin the bottom popping up to show a cross-hair.

Robin moved as the man fired a shot showing the cane fires explosives and the blast radius caught Robin off guard, sending him off the building before he used the momentum to spin around, launching a birdarang, effectively knocking the cane from his hand before kicking off the side of another building using a grapple to launch himself at Torchwick who smirked before another figure shot in, catching Robin off guard and kicking him in the chest where he did a back flip he landed on an empty car making the glass windows crack.

The person who kicked him was shown to be a teenage girl wearing a white jacket with a pink exterior, brown pants, black gloves, black and white boots with high knees along with a brown corset showing under the jacket, exposing her hips.

What truly caught his attention though was her hair which was half-pink/half-brown with white stripes on the pink side.

"Neo there you are," Torchwick said with the girl rolling her pale-pink eyes, holding a parasol that was open while he grabbed his cane. "Do me a favor and keep the bird boy occupied and meet me at the place."

"You aren't going anywhere-." Robin began pulling out two birdarangs only to be put on the defensive immediately as Neo was suddenly in front of him, her left eye color changing from pale-pink to brown, catching him by surprise before he went for a punch and found himself reeling back feeling the punch instead of delivering it.

Shaking his head, he saw Neo looking extremely confident.

"Alright Neo," Robin said getting into a stance seeing that he wasn't going to get past her until they fought. "Let's do this."

Neo smirked a bit condescendingly with Robin throwing his birdarangs, making her block it with the parasol before he went in for strikes that she was dodging expertly showing she was no stranger to hand-to-hand combat.

But her eyes kept changing colors and Robin found himself feeling confused during the fight considering how something seemed wrong, right as he finally made a hit only for her to shatter like a mirror.

Taking advantage of his surprise, the parasol, now closed up, slammed into his chin while she held his arm and kicked back with surprising flexibility, drawing blood from his mouth before throwing him across the street where he rolled to his feet, calmly wiping the blood from his lips with his gauntlets.

This girl was dangerous.

"So what has you working with Torchwick?" Robin asked hoping to find an opening while keeping her talking but the girl just smirked, not saying a word.

Seeing something was wrong, Robin quickly turned on Detective Vision to scan her skeletal structure, hoping to find a weak point-seeing something that caught him off guard.

There was damage in her vocal cords-this girl was a Mute.

Seeing as how he wasn't moving, Neo made her move towards him, spinning around with the parasol that Robin managed to identify as being made with traces of Nth Metal and Promethium showing how it was so durable with him barely blocking it with his gauntlets before she grabbed his arm jumping on it, wrapping her legs around his neck where she twisted, throwing him to the ground.

Was he seriously getting his ass kicked by an ice cream lady?!

Deciding he had to change things up a bit, Robin discretely pulled out a shock disc and charged at Neo, throwing a Birdarang that she easily stopped, not seeing the shock disc attach to the parasol before Robin pressed a button on his gauntlet the electric discharge going through the parasol, electrocuting her, giving him an opening where he delivered a palm strike to her chin, spinning around, kicking her in the stomach, sending her back.

Neo stood back up while Robin was catching his breath no longer looking confident, but annoyed that he got in a hit like that while he smirked back, something that she copied.

It seemed that she was beginning to enjoy this a bit.

Then she closed the Parasol and pulled a blade out from the tip making Robin tense. "You take after Penguin by any chance?" He asked getting a sadistic grin in response but before she could do anything else a shot rang out, hitting her in the head but she shattered showing another duplicate as Red Hood landed near him. "I had it."

"Sure you did, that's why you were getting your ass kicked." Red Hood said with a smirk seeing the real Neo nearby and she was no longer smiling, instead she seemed a bit nervous, not confident in her abilities to take on the Red Hood and Robin at the same time as both of them had a bit of a reputation, especially considering how Red Hood wasn't afraid of any bloodshed.

So she disappeared, her eyes flashing pale pink once more.

"Okay who the hell was that?" Red Hood asked in confusion

"That's what I'm trying to find out," Robin muttered knowing that Torchwick was long gone by now and with the abilities this Neo showed-revealing she was either a Meta or a Magic-User-she was in the wind currently. "... Thanks."

"I thought you had it handled," Red Hood said looking at him earning a glare from Robin despite knowing the former Robin was just messing with him. "You alright?"

"Fine, she just caught me off guard." Robin said thinking back to how she moved and fought before coming to a conclusion.

This Neo can make Illusions, that was why he felt off in the fight, but more than that she could make these illusions tangible making her even more dangerous.

Not wanting to talk about it, Robin glanced back at Red Hood. "How's it going finding Dent and Sionis?"

"Not good, the bastards are really keeping a low profile." Red Hood said crossing his arms. "But they'll slip up eventually."

Robin chuckled and smirked. "They always do." He said earning a short laugh from Red Hood.

"That we can agree on." Red Hood said.

* * *

That night Bruce sat in the Batcave with Alfred stitching him up after a mess that involved one of Riddler's Death Traps almost doing him in.

"I swear sir you make near death experiences out to be a form of art." Alfred said the needle digging through the skin as it was sewed back together.

"How are the others?" Bruce asked not flinching as he was used to this by now.

"Masters Grayson and Todd have cleaned uptown Gotham while Master Strike along with Miss Brown took down the dreaded Ratcatcher with Miss Kyle taking in the Hatter," Alfred recited with Bruce listening intently. "Miss Cain detained the Man Bat and there is a dead body that Master Strike found in Dixon Docks that's a strange one even for this city."

"Did Oracle send me the reports?" Bruce asked about the dead body while Alfred finished the stitch job.

"She did sir, also we seem to have two new players in Gotham that Master Strike ran into." Alfred said with Bruce narrowing his eyes, hating unknowns.

"Have him send the video from his mask and I'll look into it," Bruce promised getting up to head to the computer before Alfred got in his way. "... Again Alfred?"

"You will continue your work after you get a full meal and no less than eight hours of sleep Master Bruce," Alfred laid it out for him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You are working past your limits sir."

For a few seconds Bruce just looked at Alfred who returned it with a look of his own before the Dark Knight gave a nod, conceding as he knew Alfred was right.

He barely slept this week and it was starting to show.

"Dinner will be ready for you soon, I suggest you take a shower before its done." Alfred said with a nod, relieved that Bruce listened.

As Alfred left, Bruce idly glanced back at the Batcomputer before deciding maybe it could all wait until tomorrow.

And he wasn't the only one in Gotham.

Dick was there, although he would most likely need rest because he's been pulling double-shifts with his job as a Police Officer in Bludhaven and everything he's done here, Barbara had Cassandra, Stephanie, Helena and John out looking into things and if things get too hard for them she'll call him.

And even Jason was there and Bruce found himself relieved that this last year Jason has been working with them a lot more showing there was still a chance for them to patch things up.

Making his way out of the Batcave now in a bathrobe with the suit in the cave to be repaired at a later time, Bruce looked back at the grandfather clock that closed with a thoughtful look.

Something has been bothering him for the last few weeks and it concerned John, the current Robin.

In this last year John has proven himself considerably in being the fourth person to take that mantle and has made an impression on everyone else in what Barbara at times jokingly called 'The Batfamily'.

But Bruce was worried because of the times he couldn't predict what John could do at times.

From that mess concerning Amazo to disobeying an order when engaging Cinderblock without his suit to putting himself in harms way more often than not these last few weeks.

It was worrying him because Jason pulled the same stunts that John has pulled before the Joker killed Jason and Bruce feared that sometime the same fate may befall John if he didn't tread lightly.

* * *

Roman Torchwick was a simple man with extravagant tastes.

So he sat in what he decided as his hideout in Gotham smoking a Cuban Cigar while looking through the jewels he and his partner Neo stole giving one of the Vigilantes the slip.

Neo was just laying on the couch they had there watching TV a bit lazily.

"Where is he?" Roman muttered in annoyance as they were hired to steal these jewels for a lot of money and their 'benefactor' was late.

On hearing him speak, Neo muted the TV and looked at him with a quirked brow.

"I'll have none of that young lady." Roman said pointing a finger at her seeing a smirk on her face, the two having an interesting partnership over the last three years or so.

Roman was just your run-of-the-mill thief who got by in other cities without a 'Superhero' in them before finding Neo who was by herself stealing food to get by as she was a homeless runaway Metahuman.

He was originally going to just leave her out to dry after a single team-up for a heist believing he was better off by himself, but on that heist something just clicked for the two to where he allowed for Neo to hang around whenever she pleased, the two forming an unlikely friendship.

And as much as he would deny it he admits that he has a soft spot for the kid and does look out for her if she needs it.

Neo just rolled her eyes at him still smirking.

"Yes I know you saved my ass from that kid but I could've taken care of him." Roman said as he did have a backup weapon besides his cane.

Then he paused when he saw Neo look back at the TV as it showed a documentary on what Gotham has learned of their Vigilante's and smirked at seeing the current Robin being shown alongside Batgirl and Spoiler on the News.

"What do you mean he's amusing?" Roman asked with a quirked brow,knowing her expressions by heart.

Neo turned and glared at him while Roman shrugged.

"If you say so."

"Well isn't this sweet," A voice spoke up with Roman quickly grabbing his Cane while Neo immediately flipped off the couch and grabbed her Parasol only for them to calm down at seeing their client.

"You're late." Roman said taking a puff of his cigar.

The figure entered the room to show Walter Shriev wearing a pair of specially made hearing aids. "Sorry about that I had other appointments," Shriev said looking at Roman. "Nicely done."

"Why thank you," Roman said proudly with Neo giving a pointed look. "From the both of us."

Neo just rolled her eyes and looked at Shriev with distrust.

"Oh don't mind her she doesn't like working with other people unless she gets to know them," Roman said knowing how she was with Neo sticking her tongue out at him in response. "So about our payment?"

"Here." Shriev said placing money on the table. "Enough for four of the jewels, the rest you can do what you please."

Roman smirked opening the bag and holding a stack of bills. "Stack of hundreds," He said sounding pleasantly surprised. "To be honest I was expecting a double-cross and for these to just be a stack of ones."

"Unlike most people I keep my word." Shriev said thinking about the man who ruined him.

"If you say so, what do you need a four jewels for anyways?" Roman asked curiously.

"Just an experiment." Shriev said not saying he was going to try and recreate the sonic device Benjamin Strike wanted to make but on a smaller scale, he already had the plans drawn out and needed these jewels to test out its power, after all if sound could break diamonds like this then he'll be able to make short work of Strike.

He was going to enjoy using the research he started to get back at the man, but knew it would take time to build. Just like it took time to build these hearing aids to repair his hearing and even that wasn't perfect as upon putting them in, removing them would cause nothing but intense pain.

But it was a price to pay to get the sense back.

Roman shrugged, thinking it wasn't any of his business before smirking. "Well not that this hasn't been fun but we have plans to make, now if you want to hire us again you know how to contact us."

"I'll think about it." Shriev stated taking the four jewels he selected.

* * *

Stephanie hummed as she read a book, being told by Barbara to take some time off after spending the last week fighting gang members when she heard something tap her window.

Quirking a brow, she approached and was surprised to see Tim Drake giving a grin, hanging onto the ledge.

Quickly she opened the window. "What are you doing?!" She hissed at him trying not to alert her Mom to what was going on. "Get in before you fall."

It's been a year since Tim did anything like this so there was a chance he could slip and fall to his death.

"Hey Steph, how's it going?" Tim asked with a friendly smile only for her to stare.

"How's it going? Nothing for a whole year since you left and that's what you lead with?" Stephanie asked with Tim wincing.

"Okay yeah I could've thought that out better." Tim admitted with a sigh.

He's taking a big risk with his Dad by sneaking over here, he wasn't sure if his Dad figured out that Stephanie was Spoiler but he had to talk with her about this.

"What do you want Tim?" Stephanie asked with a sigh.

A bit put off by that, Tim rubbed the back of his head before sitting in a chair. "I need to talk to someone and you're the first person to come to mind besides Batman."

Stephanie looked at him in worry before sitting on her bed. "What is it?"

"It's about this Gang War, heck it's about me staying out of this lifestyle I tried for my Dad but I can't help but feel useless whenever someone needs help," Tim said looking at her. "I don't know how long I can keep out of this and if I try to help-."

He trailed off with Stephanie getting the picture. "You think your Dad will blow the whistle on who Batman is?" She asked with Tim giving a nod.

"Dad means well but he gets a bit over protective." Tim joked with Stephanie giving a sad smile.

"I'd say you're lucky."

On hearing that Tim winced not meaning to make her think of Cluemaster.

"Crap Steph, sorry." Tim said standing up to place a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't be it's not your fault." Steph said with a smile, happy to be talking with an old friend.

Tim rubbed the back of his head with a smile.

"So what are you reading?" He asked curiously using that as a chance to change the conversation with Stephanie who gladly took him off on that.

"Just a book that's required for class, even if school is closed I still have some work that needs to be done."

"Ah that has to suck." Tim commented turning his head to say something else before he saw how close they were and before he knew it he leaned in.

The two were unaware of a figure who just came by to surprise Stephanie, climbing up with a smile- stopping at what he was seeing John stared in shock, even more so when Stephanie seemed to be kissing back making the smile slowly drop off his face.

Unable to process this, John left without a word-if he stayed he would've seen Stephanie stop and back away. "Tim I can't."

Tim blinked in surprise. "What's wrong?" He asked not sure why.

"I'm dating someone." Stephanie explained Tim's eyes widening as he didn't know that and cursed for not even thinking of that. "It's John."

It's been a year without seeing anyone of the others when he left Gotham, of course she was seeing someone. And he shouldn't be surprised it was John considering how the two would've most likely have been working together in fighting crime.

"Oh man I'm so sorry." Tim said backing up not meaning to make things awkward. "I didn't-I mean… I'll just leave."

There wasn't really anything to say as Stephanie gave a nod the two needed time to forget this ever happened.

* * *

John just ran, not looking back or even letting them know he was there.

He couldn't believe it he just-... Why?

After running from rooftop to rooftop, not even caring if anyone saw him as he wasn't in uniform, John came to a stop not even caring as tears were streaming down his face before he found his way into his bedroom, sneaking in through the window.

' _Tim… With Stephanie._ ' John shook his head falling to his knees, his shoulders shaking as he felt nothing but pain. ' _I… I shouldn't even be surprised._ '

The warning signs were there and they did go out before.

John let out a short sob before quieting down not wanting his father to hear him if he was home.

How could he be so stupid to think that something like this would work out-?

John went to wipe his eyes only to see the watch that Stephanie got for him during Valentine's Day on his wrist and stared at it before rage overcame his eyes, rage he hasn't felt for a long time.

Ripping the watch off, he threw it into the wall where it shattered before grabbing his Robin uniform out from underneath his bed, putting it on.

It didn't take long for him to find someone to beat as a man was holding a lady at gunpoint before Robin swooped in using his grapple, grabbing the guy, bringing him to the rooftop, making sure that he dropped the gun in the process.

The guy blinked and looked at the masked face of Robin and while he wasn't scared at first that changed when he saw the enraged expression on Robin's face. "H-Hey I wasn't really going to shoot her-."

His words fell on deaf ears as Robin slammed a fist into his face, breaking his nose not caring as he just wanted to pummel something and he threw two more punches before rearing a fist back for another punch when a hand grabbed his wrist.

Swinging around, Robin went to punch whoever it was only to see it was Batgirl who tensed in surprise at his hostile action.

"Enough." Batgirl said looking from Robin who had blood on his gauntlets to the beaten thug who had a swelled up cheek and begging for it to stop.

Robin pulled his arm free, but he didn't continue his assault on the thug who fell unconscious from the beating.

Seeing the man out, Batgirl turned to Robin, her stance showing concern for his change of behavior from the last time she saw him before Robin took off running and leaped off of the rooftop using his grapple to get away.

Batgirl quickly used her com link to trace him. "Robin." She said not one to use real names when in uniform.

" _ **I need to be alone,**_ " Robin whispered back and Batgirl paused at hearing the tone in his voice, there was pain. " _ **Please just give me a bit.**_ "

Batgirl thought about contacting Oracle or Spoiler to see if they could help look for him but looked back at the guy.

He needed to get to the Hospital quickly and then she'll look for Robin.

Something was seriously wrong.

* * *

Moving extremely quickly, Robin made his way around Gotham using his gauntlet to shut off any tracers in the suit not wanting anyone to find him, especially because of what he did.

He nearly killed a man in his rage.

Hearing more gunfire, Robin turned to see another Gang Fight between Black Mask and Two-Face's gang and narrowed his eyes, jumping down, kicking them before he decided he wanted this to end… Tonight.

Maybe it was the pain he was feeling from what happened or maybe he just wanted to beat someone up but once the men were taken down, Robin pulled out the Shock Box and turned it on.

"Robin to everyone come in." He said waiting.

" _ **Rob?!**_ " Impulse's voice answered first the sound of a Video Game being paused in the background. " _ **Dude we've been trying to contact you for a week.**_ "

Her voice was quickly followed by Static. " _ **It's good to hear from you Dawg.**_ "

" _ **Are you well Robin?**_ " Aqualad's voice came next.

" _ **So what Super Criminal caused for you to go silent?**_ " Speedy's tone sounded cheerful but she also had a tinge of worry mixed with it.

"Hey guys, sorry for the silent treatment." Robin said his voice quivering for a bit, something the others clearly heard something.

" _ **Rob?**_ " Impulse sounded worried for her friend before Robin took a deep breath to calm himself.

"There's been a massive gang war in Gotham, I'm ending it tonight but I need help locating Black Mask and Two Face." Robin said to them.

" _ **Wait, Bats gave you permission to contact us?**_ " Static asked in surprise as Batman was extremely well known for a no outside help policy when it came to Gotham, particularly with Metas.

Robin hesitated before telling the truth. "He has no idea I'm doing this." He confessed.

There was a low whistle from Speedy's end. " _ **Way to be a rebel,**_ " She said sounding surprised. " _ **I was under the impression that you didn't want to piss him off from our last team-up.**_ "

"How soon before you guys can get to Gotham?" Robin asked ignoring that last part but still acknowledging her point.

" _ **I can get us there fast.**_ " Impulse offered as it was literally around the block for her.

Aqualad was silent for a bit before voicing his opinion. " _ **I am currently in Atlantis, give me a moment to make it to a Zeta Tube and I'll get there.**_ " He said with Robin giving a nod.

"You'll need the access code, I can send it to you." Robin said to them. "Meet me at Park Row, Impulse knows where it is."

" _ **... I do?**_ "

Robin frowned. "It's where we met."

" _ **Give me some time to get changed and sneak out.**_ " Static said not wanting to worry his pops and not having a 'Zeta' in his city due to not really being affiliated with the League save for the Brainiac event.

" _ **Cool I'll pick you up when you're ready.**_ " Impulse offered with Robin putting the Shock Box up after turning it off and staring at the downed men before grabbing one of them that belong to Two-Face's crew and waking him up before slamming him into the wall.

"I want you to tell me where your boss is." Robin said knowing that by taking one of them out the other would most likely reveal himself.

"Or else what? You think you're the Bat bird-boy?" The man began only for Robin to grab a finger, seeing Batman do something like this before and applied pressure, almost breaking it.

"It's because I'm not the Bat that you should be worried." Robin said with a dark glare. "I am tired of this war going on so either you tell me or I break every bone in your body starting with your finger."

"You're bluffing-." The guy began before Robin broke the finger making him cry in agony, and Robin grabbed the next finger.

"Care to test that theory further?" Robin asked with a snarl wanting the information before anyone finds him.

When the guy hesitated Robin broke the second finger and he cried out. "I'll talk, I'll talk!"

 _ **To Be Continued…**_

 _ **Alright first off I'm sorry for my silence these last two months-moving is a pain in the ass, especially when people get on you about using the time to pack everything up and move from one place to another, including cutting out the Wi-Fi for a bit.**_

 _ **Anyways here's the latest chapter on Red-X Volume 0 and I hope you're enjoying the beginning of John taking action, you'll see him as Red-X soon enough.**_

 _ **Now for those of you who are unsure because of what happened with Tim and Stephanie that was actually a part of the challenge from when I took on this story and a necessary part for the Character Growth along with showing that even if they are heroes they're still HUMANS who make the same mistakes that other people do.**_

 _ **Plus Tim with his forced retirement hasn't kept up with the others so he didn't know Stephanie and John were dating and reacted to old feelings, but John however isn't going to see it like that, especially since he left early.**_

 _ **Still I hope you all enjoyed the interactions between John and various members of the Batfamily and some of the Arkham Inmates in this chapter along with the surprise that Helena Kyle is Black Bat-Had to give her something since Helena Bertinelli is still alive in this story.**_

 _ **Oh and hope you all enjoyed the appearance of Roman Torchwick and Neo who are a part of Red-X's future Rogue's Gallery-thank you to Nightmaster000 for suggesting them.**_

 _ **So let me answer the Reviews so I can post this.**_

 _ **Dark King Marcel: Thanks, I hope you enjoyed this chapter just as well.**_

 _ **Iwymoisiraslom: You'll have to wait and see for that.**_

 _ **Speedking535: More like make a team but that won't come for awhile, right now this is just him asking friends for help.**_

 _ **Crimson Ninja: Haven't decided on who John will date after what happened with this relationship, but it might happen.**_

 _ **Bael92: Thanks, it's always fun to type that part of his character and I'm glad you enjoyed seeing the Earth-2 Characters and yes the Society who will be 'One' of the main enemies John will face as Red-X and I already have the team name ready but it will be revealed either mid Volume 01 or Volume 02 as Volume 0 is almost at an end.**_

 _ **Coldblue: I know what you mean, it's getting harder to update with all of the personal business, but I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It's great to see that you're enjoying how John Strike is so far with breaking Batman of the Mind Control, meeting the Earth-2 heroes who now live there and everything else that has happened, I did plan to have the relationship end in maybe Chapter 11 or 12, but as I typed that scene it felt natural for me to type it in there.**_

 _ **Yeah the society has a lot of potential from both the series and recently the Injustice 2 game and I was surprised that they had Reverse Flash in that one, but it's what makes typing him so much fun-still haven't really decided if I want it to be Zoom or Thawne though as I'm using the Wally Flash, but Thawne could still work as I'm pretty sure Wally would hold a grudge if Barry was mentioned.**_

 _ **Now for your Questions. 1) Perhaps-not giving much out on that one. 2) Well maybe eventually but right now that will be the furthest thing from his mind. 3) I think this chapter answered your question. 4) You'll see. 5) Yes he and Terry will meet, I can promise that much.**_

 _ **Also thanks for mentioning the Red-X story by Storm of Crows, it was a very interesting read-when I did have time to look into it.**_

 _ **Knight: Thanks.**_

 _ **Nightmaster000: Thank you and perhaps, but for now this Earth has enough enemies for them.**_

 _ **Slash17: Thanks it's fun to add the characters and show a different twist to them, hope you liked this chapter and hopefully the next one won't take as long to get out.**_

 _ **Matt: Sorry, moving is a pain in the ass and yes it did take this long-still am moving to be perfectly honest.**_

 _ **Guest5: Yeah, sorry for the wait, I hate moving.**_

 _ **Alright that's enough for this chapter-just five or six more chapters to go in this Volume before it's finished, so hold onto your seatbelts as I'm going to try and keep this going as fast as I can-provided my private life allows for me to do so.**_

 _ **This is Spidey Signing Out!**_


	11. Chapter 11: Gang War Part 2

_**Chapter 11: Gang War Part 2**_

Batgirl entered the Clock Tower in a hurry, looking around.

She spent the last hour or so looking for John and hasn't been able to find him which really worried her, she even checked his home to see he wasn't there, only finding a broken watch in his room.

"Cass?" Barbara looked towards her in surprise as she made it to the main room. "What's wrong?"

"Have you seen John?" Batgirl asked taking her mask off with Barbara backing her wheelchair up.

"What's this about John?" Stephanie asked entering the room as Batgirl called her a few moments ago for a late patrol and she was in her Spoiler costume.

Cassandra looked at them. "Earlier I was on patrol," She said to them. "I came across John stopping a mugging."

"I thought John went home for the day." Barbara said in surprise before she saw Cassandra's face.

"He punched the man repeatedly without stopping." Cassandra said handing her mask to Barbara so she could look through the camera in it. "I intervened and he ran off."

Not wasting anytime, Barbara pulled up the video and looked worried at what she was seeing.

John was never that brutal to anyone.

"Is he being controlled by anyone?" Stephanie asked in worry never seeing him act like this before but Cassandra shook her head.

"No, he was him," Cassandra said simply. "Just angry… And hurt."

"Why would he be hurt-?" Barbara began only to see an unauthorized Zeta Teleportation into the city from Atlantis pop up and quickly switched to the Camera near it to show Aqualad before Impulse sped over and grabbed him. "Aqualad and Impulse?"

While it was surprising seeing those two, Barbara turned the Com Link on.

"Robin come in." She said getting nothing but static. "Robin?"

Okay now this was really worrying, Barbara was starting to have flashbacks of when Jason went off the grid as she attempted to turn on the camera in his mask only to see it in his bedroom showing he removed the camera.

Giving a sigh, Barbara looked at both Cassandra and Stephanie. "Okay I want you two to look for him alright?"

Seeing the two nod and leave, Barbara turned the other links on. "Batman. Nightwing. Red Hood." She said getting three lines being picked up. "Come in."

" _ **Hey Babs.**_ " Dick answered with a yawn showing he just woke up after heading to sleep at Titan's Tower, keeping a low voice as Kori was next to him asleep.

Gunfire could be heard from Jason's line as he spoke. " _ **Kind of busy here what is it?**_ "

" _ **Good evening Miss Gordon.**_ " Alfred picked up instead of Bruce, surprising them.

"Alfred? Where's Bruce?"

" _ **Currently resting, I talked him into getting some sleep.**_ " Alfred answered.

Jason whistled. " _ **Wow, I didn't think the big guy would listen to anyone on resting.**_ "

There was movement on Dick's end as he left his room. " _ **As great as it is to hear Bruce is resting for once, what's up Barb?**_ " He asked knowing that Barbara wouldn't call them all this late after the week they had if it wasn't important.

Unsure of how to put this, Barbara just said what happened. "Robin went AWOL."

It got silent before Jason spoke up. " _ **What happened?**_ " He asked some worry in his tone and Barbara knew what Jason was thinking.

" _ **Batgirl found him hospitalizing a man and then he disappeared, I saw Aqualad and Impulse come into Gotham on camera.**_ " Barbara said with Dick giving a slight curse.

" _ **Bruce isn't going to be happy to hear that,**_ " Dick muttered moving towards where his Nightwing gear was stored. " _ **Any word on Little Wing's location?**_ "

"He turned his tracer off and it seems that he found the tracer Bruce placed on him," Barbara answered already trying to trace him. "He also removed the camera in his mask."

" _ **I shall get Master Bruce up.**_ " Alfred said knowing how serious this was and although he knew that the Batman needed his sleep he wouldn't appreciate being kept out of the loop on this one.

" _ **Should I call Wally and Garth?**_ " Dick asked placing his domino mask on.

" _ **I would hold off on that until we know what the fuck is going on.**_ " Jason said already on a rooftop as he just finished his fight.

" _ **Good point, Speedy and Static might be here as well if Impulse and Aqualad are,**_ " Dick said knowing that John kept in contact with them. " _ **Alright I'm at the Zeta Beam, I'll be there shortly.**_ "

* * *

Robin was looking through a pair of binoculars overlooking the abandoned warehouse near where he and Speedy took on Amazo.

The location he got on Dent was this place, but he also got five other locations, two of them he already checked out, now he was pretty sure this was the right location and he sent his coordinates to the others as he made a change of plans from meeting them in Park Row.

He already saw Two-Face entering and he had to say he was surprised because he was expecting for the man to hide out in a courthouse or something like that.

A rush of wind told him that he was found. "Impulse." Robin said with no emotion in his tone, trying to appear like he usually would.

"Hey Rob." Impulse greeted with a smile, a worried look on her face before pulling out her Shock Box. "Guys I found him."

" _ **We'll be there shortly.**_ " Speedy answered before Robin pulled his Shock Box out.

"Be discreet, I see a lot of Two-Face's thugs across the street, I'd rather not tip them off that we're here." Robin said.

He didn't get an answer as he continued to watch the thugs before he felt an elbow leaning on his side making him turn his head to see Impulse looking a little concerned, her goggles currently on her forehead instead of covering her eyes.

"So what's wrong?" Impulse asked curiously her impatient nature getting straight to the point.

"What makes you think something's wrong?" Robin asked hiding the annoyance in his tone before Impulse backed off and sat on the side of the rooftop next to where he was watching the warehouse, putting her goggles over her eyes to help watch the warehouse.

"Well you called us to Gotham for one, Dad has told me plenty of stories where he and Nightwing got in trouble with Batman for doing this sort of thing." Impulse told him.

Robin momentarily froze up at the reminder that he broke Batman's number one rule-well behind killing-but shook his head.

He'll worry about that later, right now he had to keep his head in the game.

"Where are the others?" Robin asked purposely avoiding answering that question with Impulse looking a bit annoyed at him for doing that.

"Right here." Speedy's voice came up as she approached the ledge, Aqualad climbing the fire escape behind her while Static floated up on his disc.

"You have a plan?" Static asked seeing quite a few guards out there as he got off his disc to avoid being seen.

"Right now it's just recon to make sure Two Face isn't expecting any company before we head in there," Robin answered before glancing back. "Thanks for coming guys."

"Hey it's not everyday we get asked for help with it being Gotham." Speedy commented with a grin, no doubt remembering the last team-up. "Just try not to get shattered ribs this time."

"They were cracked not shattered." Robin said with a slight glare, grateful for the distraction.

"Wait what's this about ribs?" Impulse asked looking between them.

Aqualad however looked at Robin, seeing that something was off with him. "You said this holds Two Face, are we not going after Black Mask as well?" He asked remembering how Robin made a mention of that on the Shock Box earlier.

"If Two Face is out of the picture, Mask will get cocky and that will result in his arrest," Robin answered simply. "If Mask is taken out first then Two Face will go underground to build up his resources."

Reading the psychological profiles that Batman had really paid off here.

"I could go on recon if you want." Static offered looking over it all.

"No offense Static but your mode of transportation really stands out." Robin said looking at him with an apologetic look with the teen Meta giving a shrug, not that offended.

"What about me?" Impulse asked zooming over. "I could be in and out very quickly."

Robin actually considered that before frowning. "Can you do so without kicking up wind or alerting anyone?"

At hearing that Impulse chuckled. "Uh... No."

' _Maybe this was a bad idea._ ' Robin thought as he wasn't exactly in his right mind when he called the others, none of them were really suited for stealth-with the exception of Speedy due to being a fellow non-powered hero.

But he was happy they were here because he didn't want to deal with any of the other Gotham Heroes at the moment.

"Okay here's the plan, Speedy and I will go on recon, think you guys can wait until we call in?" Robin suggested before thinking about it. "Or unless you hear gunshots cause that would be a sign of cover being blown."

Aqualad gave a nod knowing that stealth was something he didn't have while Static gave a shrug, fine with that. Impulse however looked annoyed at having to wait due to her abilities giving her a bit of ADHD on steroids but didn't complain.

Seeing that, Robin grappled to the next rooftop, making his way to the warehouse, Speedy moving behind him.

"So you going to talk about what happened?" Speedy asked curiously she and Robin made it a few rooftops away, sneaking around to get behind the warehouse with there being a back way in that was rarely used.

"What makes you think something happened?" Robin quipped in an attempt to sound normal.

"Because of how you sounded on the Shock Box, plus you seem off when you were explaining the plan." Speedy listed with a look.

"... I plead the fifth." Robin answered before they had to go quiet as two people walked out for a smoke, Robin jumping in, landing on one guy where his friend turned and was about to pull out a gun when a trick arrow shot past him releasing knock-out gas making him fall asleep.

"I was unaware this was a democracy," Speedy deadpanned with Robin looking away making her frown. "And you're just proving my point right now."

* * *

Batman flew across the sky in the Batwing a dark look on his face, his on board computer working overtime attempting to find Robin.

' _John, what's going on with you?_ ' Batman thought remembering everything Alfred and Barbara told him and he couldn't help but feel worried.

What made John call those kids into Gotham? Why did he hospitalize a man?

" _ **Batman I have something,**_ " Oracle's voice brought the caped crusader out of his thoughts. " _ **A man belonging to Two Face's crew was treated with broken fingers, apparently Robin interrogated him.**_ "

"Did you get anything else Oracle?" Batman asked finding that interesting as well as a good lead on where to find him but the fact that Robin did some interrogating made him worry a bit more.

" _ **The GCPD has him locked up and Dad just lit the Bat Signal, it seems he wants to talk.**_ "

Batman gave a nod and began to fly to the GCPD, knowing that this was his only lead in what was going on.

It didn't take long for him to get there as he ejected from the Bat Plane to glide to the rooftop, landing there right as Gordon turned around.

"You made noise?" Gordon asked in surprise seeing that as a bad sign.

"You needed to see me Jim?" Batman asked not saying anything in response to that before Gordon gave a nod.

"We managed to find out where Dent is hiding, we have five locations and I'm getting my men ready to head over to them, I'm assuming you already have him ready for transport?" Gordon asked as he was pretty sure Batman knew this already considering it was Robin who got this guy.

Much to his surprise, Batman frowned. "What are the locations?"

The question caused for Gordon to cough as he inhaled the tobacco from his pipe a bit. "You didn't know?" Gordon asked in disbelief. "What's going on?"

First Batman made noise and then he didn't know this before him, was he having an off night or something?

Batman didn't say anything at first before answering. "Robin went off the grid." He said as he trusted Jim who was one of his first allies ever since he put on the cowl.

Gordon gave a slight curse, seeing how bad that was. "Is he alright?" He asked as while he might've not known this Robin as well as the other three during their times on the mantle, he knew the kid made a good impact.

"That's what I'm trying to find out." Batman said turning to leave instead of doing the disappearing act.

* * *

Aqualad stood there watching the warehouse intently, ready to move while Static was laying on his back with a small ball of electricity being juggled mid-air and Impulse pacing back and forth at a high speed.

Eventually Impulse spoke up. "I'll be right back." She zoomed off much to their uncertainty before coming back with an armful of hamburgers.

"For a second I thought you just ran in there." Static commented dispelling the ball of electricity, sitting up.

"Nah, just hungry." Impulse said biting into a burger.

Static then looked concerned. "Isn't eating all of those hamburgers bad for you?" He asked as he could count twenty there.

"Hyper Metabolism, I can eat as many as I like without it harming me," Impulse explained with a grin before tossing one to Static. "Want one?"

"Thanks." Static said feeling a little hungry himself before pausing. "Where did you get them?"

"Burger King, they had a lot of them prepared for customers." Impulse said with a grin. "So I didn't have to wait that long after paying for them."

Static was about to ask where she kept the money because she didn't look like she had any pockets before Aqualad spoke. "Did something seem wrong with Robin to you?"

"You mean at how he was forcing himself to act normally?" Static asked curiously as while he hasn't really hung out with Robin all that much like the others have due to being busy in North Dakota he played online with him enough to get to know him.

"I tried asking him but he wouldn't answer," Impulse said pausing from eating as she frowned. "Dad said that Nightwing was the same way a bit when they were growing up so maybe it has something to do with Batman?"

An explosion alerted the three as they saw smoke billowing out from the warehouse, making them jump into action.

* * *

Moments earlier, Robin choked out another thug along with Speedy silently taking down the last one in the room before they silently moved on.

"You're not usually this sloppy." Speedy commented as Robin was nearly caught a few times.

"Will you just drop it?" Robin asked some annoyance in his tone.

Speedy gave him a look. "Not when you could die from a lack of focus," She said sharply. "Unlike the three we left outside we don't have any powers, a wrong move can kill us easily and I don't know about you but I'd rather not die because my friend doesn't have his head on straight."

On hearing that Robin went quiet, shaking his head. "I don't want to talk about it." He muttered, coming to a stop as they heard voices behind a door, making him place a finger on his lips as he approached it silently.

The look Speedy was giving him warned the boy wonder that this talk wasn't over.

"I'm getting tired of this war, every day we lose men and resources." Two Face's voice roared from behind the door, showing he was on the phone. "What do you mean we can't find Sionis?!"

Then his voice seemingly changed.

"Men like Sionis are nothing more than cowards he'll slip up," This time he sounded sane, like it was Harvey Dent speaking. "They always do."

"This Gang War must've unhinged him a bit more." Robin muttered as Two Face was known to have a bit of a split personality.

"You mean he was sane before all of this?" Speedy asked with a quirked brow.

"Point taken."

With that said they paused.

"They always do."

Wasn't that already said?

Exchanging glances as it kept repeating, they opened the door to see a recording playing through a projector on a wall.

"Dammit." Robin muttered at seeing that.

"So the Bat sent his kid and a girl playing archer?" The TV screen flickered before it showed a live feed from somewhere else in the warehouse showing Two Face. "And here I was all prepared for him."

"Sorry to disappoint you but I felt like we haven't had much time to bond since last time." Robin said forcing a joke out to make himself feel better. "How about you tell us where you are."

"You really think he'll do that?" Speedy asked in disbelief.

Robin just smirked, knowing how Two Face would react as he took out his coin and flipped it. "He's deciding right now."

"The coin decided I won't." Two Face said making Robin snap his fingers in disappointment.

So much for tricking him to come out, it seems luck wasn't on his side in that regard.

He then flipped it again and smirked. "Boom."

While the two were confused at first they saw a countdown appear on the screen and heard beeping, making them look up to see the ceiling rigged with explosives.

"Move!" Speedy shouted the two of them running out the room right as they went off, they were safe from the blast radius but the force of the explosion knocked them off their feet with their ears ringing.

Pushing himself up, Robin already saw Speedy standing up unsteadily as she quickly got her bow ready as some of Two Face's men entered the room, looking ready to throw down.

At least until a blur shot in, knocking them off their feet as Impulse skidded to a stop. "You guys alright?" She asked seeing some light injuries on the two from the explosion.

"We'll live." Speedy said with Static blasting the door open to fly in, Aqualad moving behind him.

The thugs that Impulse knocked down were getting up but they looked unnerved at seeing what were clearly Meta's.

"Metas in Gotham?!" Two-Faces voice sounded around them while Aqualad threw up a water shield to block the bullets from hitting any of them. "The hell is this?! I thought the Bat hated having them in Gotham!"

While Aqualad kept the bullets at bay, Impulse ran through the crowd, using her speed to take the guns apart making them fall to pieces in the men's hands right as Static used his electromagnetism to make the thugs stick to the wall.

Static looked at the Gang Members with a dark look as he had a lot of personal issues with Gangs from before he got his powers but he didn't let that thought stay when the sound of a large gun caught their attention.

It was a big guy holding a gatling gun that sprayed bullets everywhere making Aqualad expand the shield looking a little strained with each bullet hitting the shield.

"That's a lot of firepower." Static said a bit freaked out as none of the Gangs in North Dakota had weapons like these.

Then again with them having superpowers it was to be given.

Impulse was going to try and move in but decided not to as even with her speed it would've been impossible to dodge them all so Speedy grabbed a Trick Arrow and notched it.

"Make an opening!" Speedy said, Aqualad trusting her enough to do so as she shot the Trick Arrow, showing it to be another sludge one that jammed the Gatling Gun.

Seeing that, Robin threw an electric disc that sent shock waves through the man making him collapse.

This was going pretty well despite a few surprises.

"Unbelievable." The five heroes looked towards the source of the voice to see Dent himself holding a Tommy Gun. "This is the best my men can do?!"

"Ew gross." Impulse muttered seeing the burn marks on Two Face.

Two Face then flipped his coin once more before smirking. "I was saving this for if Batman showed up but I think I can make an exception here." He said a glare on his scarred face. "I'll pay you extra for getting rid of these damn kids."

That made the Heroes tense as they heard dark chuckling echoing around them.

Looking around, Aqualad realized where this mysterious enemy was as the dock exit of the warehouse showed the water being disturbed as something was heading for the surface. "The water!"

A primal roar made them scatter as a large shape lunged towards where they were as Speedy and Robin primed themselves with Birdarangs and Trick Arrows, Impulse speeding over to Aqualad as he held his water bearers and Static preparing himself to fire electricity at this new threat.

Standing at 9'7 and his frame bulging with muscles stood Waylon Jones who roared with his blood-soaked sharp teeth as his green scales shined in the light from the warehouse, wearing nothing but a chain collar and ripped prison pants, a large tail snaking around behind him.

"Killer Croc." Robin muttered a bit scared because last he checked Jones was only 7'5 and he didn't have a tail.

His mutation must've gone even further.

"Dude that's messed up." Static muttered as even with the mutated Bang Babies, none of them were like this, or had blood on their teeth.

Killer Croc sniffed the air before zeroing in on Robin. "I smell the Bat on you boy I will tear you apart, eat your flesh." He hissed with Robin taking a step back.

Now he was really happy he called the others.

"You have a plan?" Speedy asked looking calm.

"I have… Part of a plan." Robin muttered his eyes scanning the room. "At least twelve percent of one."

"Twelve percent?!" Speedy asked incredulously right as Killer Croc roared and lunged at them with inhuman speed.

Thankfully Impulse grabbed both Speedy and Robin, being faster while Static unleashed his electricity on Croc, the scales however were giving him a resistance to the electricity.

Snapping at Static, Croc ripped a part of the ground up, digging his claws into it, flinging it at Static who barely dodged it as Aqualad took advantage of that to swing a water mace at Croc's face making his head snap to the side.

But Croc stood his ground and caught the second water mace, throwing Aqualad right at Impulse who was running towards him, making the young girl slide under him as the Atlantean when skidding across the floor.

"Impulse make a small cyclone!" Robin ordered taking out multiple explosive discs.

Listening to him, Impulse dodged a swipe from Croc and spun in a , making the cyclone as she quickly exited it right when Robin threw the discs, Speedy shooting an explosive arrow-catching on.

The result was a fiery explosion that blasted Croc back but he was back up with only minor injuries.

Static took advantage of said injuries by zapping them making Croc howl in pain but he pushed through them.

Feeling a tug on his tail, Croc turned to see that Aqualad got back up and grasped it, using his electrokinesis to help Static in electrocuting the Meta.

Despite that, Croc spun around, sending Aqualad into Static, knocking the Bang Baby off of his disc that Croc grabbed and crushed in his grip.

"Hey that's not cheap to make!" Static called out in annoyance as now he will be pretty hampered in this particular fight.

Aqualad shook his head and quickly used his water bearers to manipulate the water around them and surround Croc with it. "Hit him now."

"Got it dawg." Static said blasting the orb.

While that was going on with Impulse running to help them, Robin turned towards Two-Face who actually stayed out of the fight, knowing that the man flipped a coin before doing so.

Seeing Robin heading for him, Two-Face began to fire at him with the Boy Wonder quickly jumping to the side, Speedy giving him cover fire with her Trick Arrows, this one breaking apart to show a net.

Two-Face quickly moved out of the way as Robin lunged at him throwing a birdarang, not wanting him to get away but Croc broke free of the electric water prison and his tail slammed into Impulse sending her flying right into Robin right as the birdarang sliced through the Tommy Gun rendering it useless.

The Speedster quickly used the momentum to land on her feet, grabbing Robin out of the air to avoid him hitting the ground. "Sorry." She said with Robin quickly jumping to the ground.

"It's fine." Robin said and that was when something broke through the skylight catching everyone's attention.

Batman used Croc as a landing pad, flipping off of him to throw a Batarang that emitted a sonic wave that only Croc could hear making him cry out in agony.

Taking note of everything around him, Batman glanced at Robin with a glare saying that they were going to talk about this later before turning his attention to Croc. "You mutated further Jones," He muttered putting it together as some of his scales fell off showing an adverse affect. "You took Langstrom's Formula."

This showed that this was only a temporary form and it would definitely be painful for Croc when he changed back but the human turned Crocodile didn't care.

"Anything to kill you Batman." Croc snarled grabbing the sonar Batarang and crushing it.

"Robin please tell me you finished that twelve percent plan." Impulse couldn't help but say while the Boy Wonder sighed.

"At this point I'm making it up as we go along." He admitted.

Since when has a single plan actually worked? They plan, they get there, all hell breaks loose.

Croc rushed at Batman knocking a thrown Birdarang from Robin out of the way as the Dark Knight easily side-stepped Croc due to his experience while Robin ran in, both the Dark Knight and Boy Wonder locking hands as Batman spun around, throwing Robin at Croc the force of the throw catching Croc off guard as he went to hit the Boy Wonder but Batman dove in, pulling a pair of brass knuckles that sparked electricity that he used to hurt Croc despite the scales.

The two backed off as Speedy shot an Arrow that emitted ice, this one slowing Croc down enough for Impulse to run around Croc punching his legs, this time going faster than before and aiming for the light injuries, the attacks actually affecting him.

Static then began to use his abilities to make metal stick to Croc, Aqualad using his hydrokinesis to help make the electricity stronger.

Seeing Croc losing, Two-Face snarled and quickly pulled a pistol out aiming at Batman.

Robin's eyes widened at seeing that. "Look out." He cried out rushing, tackling his mentor out of the way right as the bullet hit him.

"Robin!" Batman shouted as Robin's body hit the floor, catching everyone by surprise and just like that Batman had a flashback of finding Jason's body after the Joker tortured him.

' _No._ ' He thought not wanting to believe it, Croc breaking free of the metal, the only reason he wasn't torn apart at that moment was because of the other young heroes who kept his attention. ' _Not again._ '

Then Robin groaned, sending relief through Batman as the teen sat up.

"Ow." He muttered pulling the bullet off the R emblem on his chest. "Knew I'd be okay if it hit there."

He grinned but it fell when he saw Batman's face. "Uh boss?"

A loud thud could be heard as Croc fell unconscious the injuries finally taking its toll on him along with Langstrom's formula beginning to wear off.

"Are you an idiot?" Speedy asked sharply seeing what happened.

Robin's response was to grin.

In truth he felt a bit better after what happened earlier-. "Wait what about Two-Face?!"

"He got away." Aqualad said as the man slipped out while they were distracted by both Robin being shot and Croc trying to kill them.

Impulse frowned. "He couldn't have gotten far, I could-."

"No." Batman said sternly. "All of you are going home, now."

They did enough.

The tone of his voice was enough to make Impulse, Static and Aqualad take a step back as it was extremely harsh, Robin swallowing a bit because he never heard Batman sound like this.

Speedy glared and was about to say something but Robin shook his head with her biting down what she wanted to say and cross her arms.

The others hesitated as well looking at Robin who gave a smile. "Sorry about that guys."

Pressing a button on his gauntlet, Batman looked at Robin. "Meet me on the roof, we're flying back."

Knowing he meant the Batwing, Robin gave a nod as the Dark Knight grappled to the rooftop.

"Man what an asshole." Speedy couldn't help but say as while she did respect him, he was overdoing it.

"Well I did kind of break his rule," Robin admitted rubbing the back of his head. "Thanks for coming out here and sorry if I got you guys in trouble."

"Hey it's cool, it's what friends do." Static said with a grin while Speedy snorted.

"You're only saying that because you're the least likely to get in trouble." Speedy pointed out with Static shrugging.

"Still it means a lot." Robin said knowing he would have to hurry because he knew Batman was going to grill him.

"Are you going to be alright?" Aqualad asked, noting how Robin seemed to be back to normal now.

"I am, I got it all out of my system."

"Does that mean you'll tell us?" Impulse asked wanting to know what happened.

"I'll call you guys later, I shouldn't keep the big guy waiting."

* * *

Batman stood on the roof watching Robin talking with the other young heroes. "Oracle, I found Robin."

" _ **Thank Goodness, you bringing him back to the Clock Tower?**_ " Oracle asked letting everyone out there searching know that they found him.

"No to the Batcave." Batman said, his tone sounding off.

" _ **Bruce is everything alright?**_ "

"Killer Croc is contained, but Two Face got away and is currently in the wind at the docks." Batman answered, deflecting the question right as Robin came up. "Let Gordon know."

With that he killed the coms before Oracle could say anything else right as the Batwing lowered itself, the cockpit opening.

"Get in."

Robin obeyed without any hesitation but he was worried.

Sure Batman wasn't one for conversation, but it was deathly silent in the Batwing, it reminded him of when he was driven home in the Batmobile.

Robin wanted to apologize, to say sorry for what happened because no doubt he probably worried everyone with the stunt he pulled but nothing came out. It was as if the silence was choking him a bit and he looked down.

Now that he had his anger out of his system he could see just how badly he messed up and worse he dragged the others into this mess.

He'll make things right, he promises that.

Eventually they were back in the Cave where Alfred was waiting. "Welcome back Master Bruce-," He began only for Batman to walk past him without a word, worrying the old man before he looked at Robin. "Master Strike you really know how to liven a night up."

Robin looked down. "Sorry, I'll try to make this right." He muttered with Alfred smiling, seeing that Robin was alright.

"See that you do, but for now let's check you over for injuries."

He'll do the same to Bruce when this was over.

Soon enough, John was in his civvies while his Robin Uniform was on the table to be repaired, he pocketed the Shock Box so he could call the others that night while his light injuries were treated.

Nothing but the small burns due to the explosion that were wrapped up and the bruise from where the bullet hit the Kevlar in his suit.

"You are really taking after Master Bruce in making a mess," Alfred chided with John looking a little embarrassed. "You'd best take a few days off to properly heal."

"Yeah maybe a few days off would do me some good." John agreed as he could use some time off.

As Alfred finished however, Batman approached him, gesturing to the Batmobile showing that he was going to drive John home.

That alone surprised John because he was expecting a lecture, or even be asked what the hell happened. Now he was really worried about this.

So with a smile at Alfred, John walked to the Batmobile.

While he did that, Alfred looked at Batman. "Go easy on him Master Bruce." He said seeing the signs that the lecture was to come.

Batman didn't answer, instead heading for the Batmobile and after he and John were in it, he drove off.

Once more the silence was getting to John and this time he broke it. "I don't know what's worse the silence or being told off." He said a bit freaked. "Why aren't you telling me off? I know I deserve it."

Batman still said nothing.

"B-Bruce?" John asked quietly, hoping to get an answer out of the man but the Dark Knight just focused on the road.

Seeing that he wasn't talking, John saw that they pulled into the alley he was picked up in when he began his training, it was empty and the car was cloaked before the windshield open with John getting out.

"So I'm guessing I'm benched for a while?" John asked knowing he was most likely grounded from being Robin. "How long before you want me to come to the cave-?"

"You aren't." Batman finally spoke surprising John.

"Uh I'm not benched?" John asked hesitantly.

"No, you aren't coming to the cave anymore," Batman said looking at him. "I should've never brought you into this life, I'm sorry."

Just like that John put the pieces together and he took a step back in shock.

H-He was being fired?

"W-What no, don't please," John said a bit of a desperate edge in his tone. "I-I'm sorry alright? I know I shouldn't have done that, you don't have to do this-."

"You were nearly killed," Batman said sharply looking at him his mind kept flashing back to that one point and to Jason's death. "More than that you escalated the Gang War."

He knew that Two-Face would get higher-grade weapons for Metahumans after what John just pulled and he was determined to find the man before that could happen.

"I screwed up I'll admit it but please, don't fire me." John said pleadingly. "Bru-Batman please, don't."

This can't be happening.

H-He couldn't lose this, being Robin really helped him with his life. It turned it around and he didn't want to lose that.

… He didn't want to lose his place in this family.

Batman however shook his head and the visor closed before the Batmobile took off, leaving John to look where it went in disbelief.

' _Nonono._ ' John thought shaking, hoping this was just a bad dream and he would wake up as he fell to his knees. ' _Please, Bruce don't._ '

* * *

John sat in his room later that night, it was nearly morning as he looked up at the ceiling.

He still couldn't believe what happened.

He was no longer Robin… Batman fired him.

' _Stupid, how could I be so stupid._ ' John told himself trying not to cry as he didn't know what to do now.

Even if it was only for a year, being Robin was a large part of him, he loved it. He loved helping people and getting to know the other Gotham Vigilantes.

… And now it was gone because of his impulsive anger, the same anger he tried to curb.

"I'm sorry." He whispered sounding broken.

Hearing his phone buzzing, John slowly sat up and took it out to see it was Stephanie.

Slowly he narrowed his eyes and with a shout threw his phone, breaking it before he broke down.

He just stayed in his room the next day, not leaving it as it was the weekend and he had no desire to see anyone, no longer getting any calls on his phone-he even ignored the Shock Box as he didn't want to tell the others he was fired.

That he was no longer a hero, he couldn't bear to say it out loud.

It was around late afternoon however when John heard someone knocking on his bedroom door. "Go away." He muttered thinking it was his father.

At this point he didn't care if the man demeaned him anymore, it can't be worse than what he was feeling-.

Much to his surprise though the locked doorknob began to vibrate before it opened to show Irey in her civvies. "Finally found you," She said with a grin. "Hey Rob!"

"I-Irey?!" John asked in disbelief. "The hell are you doing here?!"

More than that how the hell did she find him?! He never told her his name let alone where he lived.

Irey placed her hands on her hips, giving a stern look, which looked a little comical from someone younger than him. "You weren't answering the Shock Box, what did you think was going to happen?" She asked rhetorically. "I asked Static to trace yours since I could run over and find you considering the others can't Zeta to Gotham without getting into trouble."

She didn't say how the others were ready to risk that before she offered to run over.

Irey then zipped over and tilted her head, seeing John's bloodshot eyes and she looked concerned.

"Rob what happened?" She asked worried about her friend.

"John."

Irey blinked. "Eh?"

"My name, you already know where I live so why not?" John said forcing a grin on his face.

"You're dancing around the question." Irey said with a frown as Kid Flash did the same when she grows worried about him at times.

"It's because I don't want to talk about it." John said sitting back down. "Anyways you should go before Bats finds out you're in Gotham."

"Alright." Irey said and the next thing John knew, she grabbed him and ran.

"H-Hey what the?!" John asked a bit bewildered and before long they were in a park in Central City as he stumbled trying not to be sick.

"Now do you want to talk?" Irey asked with a grin as technically they weren't in Gotham anymore so they didn't have to worry about Batman finding out she was there.

John shook his head and glared. "You do realize this could be taken as kidnapping right?" He asked with Irey shrugging.

"No one would believe you." Irey told him as she was the younger and smaller one here. "Now what happened? I'm not going to stop pushing."

"I said I don't want to talk about it." John snapped as he went to walk off.

"You're really going to walk back to Gotham?" Irey asked with a quirked brow.

John opened his mouth to make a retort before it died down knowing she was right. "I hate you." He muttered in defeat.

Irey just smirked knowing he didn't really mean it, but the smirk disappeared before she walked with him through the park. "Look I know that we aren't 'best' friends or anything but we fought together a few times," Irey said pocketing her hands. "If this was reversed you would've done the same."

"Except you would've been able to run into a different city or country." John pointed out with some humor.

"The point is, while we're not best friends we are friends in a way," Irey said looking at him. "So I want to help, Rob-."

"I was fired." John admitted, deciding to get it out of the way.

That made Irey blink. "Come again?" She asked thinking she heard wrong.

John managed to force a weak smile on his face. "I was fired." He repeated with Irey's eyes widening. "I'm no longer Robin."

Just saying it out loud was enough for his voice to crack a bit as he closed his eyes, trying not to break down again before Irey grabbed his arm.

"Come on." She said softly as she lead him out of the park.

* * *

Stephanie sighed as she looked at her phone, worried.

Ever since Batman found John, she's been trying to call him, but he won't pick up or answer any of her texts and she was really hoping he was alright. She tried asking Barbara but the red haired woman was just as in the dark as she was.

This just doesn't make any sense, what happened with John?

She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't hear anyone approach until Cassandra sat down next to her. "You okay?" She asked with Stephanie sighing.

"Not really, I'm worried about John."

Cassandra gave a nod in agreement as she found herself worried as well.

While the two were relieved that Batman found him the other night, not being told anything else was starting to grate on their nerves.

* * *

Dick Grayson frowned as he was in John's room looking around.

Since Bruce wouldn't leave the damn cave or tell anyone what was going on, he went to talk with John but was surprised to not find him, only a broken phone and nothing else.

"So this is where he lives," A voice spoke up while Dick picked the phone up. "I never actually been in here now that I think about it."

"Find anything Jay?" Dick asked looking at Jason who rolled his eyes.

"If I did I wouldn't be here Dicky." Jason told him with a frown, looking over his desk to see if he left a clue to explain the other night. "The hell do you think happened?"

"I don't know and that's what worries me." Dick said before seeing the broken watch. "Wait I've seen this before."

"What's so important about the watch?" Jason asked with a confused look.

"Stephanie gave it to him on Valentine's Day." Dick elaborated. "John always wore it unless he was in costume."

"If it's that important to the idiot why is it broken?" Jason asked not liking that.

"I don't know."

* * *

"So why are we here?" John asked as both he and Irey were in a cafe called 'Jitters' both of them getting a milkshake.

"Whenever I'm upset Dad always took me here to help me out, I figured it would help a bit." Irey said a bit sheepishly as she was trying but she didn't know what to do exactly.

Whatever the problem was the last thing she expected to hear was that John was fired.

"Must be nice." John muttered thinking on how his Dad was.

"So what do you plan on doing?" Irey asked with John shrugging.

"What can I do? I got fired and frankly I should've seen it coming."

Irey frowned and reached over, lightly tapping his arm. "That doesn't mean you deserve it, he can say what he want you're still Rob to me and the others will say the same I guarantee it."

That made John chuckle. "Thanks but we can't change what happened."

"Well we have your back no matter what." Irey told him. "Speaking of which, what are you going to tell the others?"

"The truth, after all Robin won't be appearing on the News anymore." John said with a sigh.

He was actually feeling better even if he was technically kidnapped.

True he was fired, but he still has his friends, it could've been much worse.

Turning to see the TV, John was surprised to see that it was covering the Gang War in Gotham. "I thought they usually stick to Central City." He said with Irey looking towards it.

"It's been a big event." Irey explained to him. "So a lot of people are watching from the distance."

* * *

Tim sighed as he entered his room with a cup of coffee, using his free time to complete the extra homework assignments he was given while he turned on the TV to catch the News.

For the last day or so he has felt nothing but extreme guilt with what happened between him and Stephanie. If he knew that John and her were dating he wouldn't have done that, why did he have to listen to his stupid hormones when around an ex-girlfriend of his?

He was going to stay away from Stephanie for the next few days until they can talk without any awkwardness and hopefully forget that happened. It was stupid and impulsive for him to do that.

Hearing a change in tune on the News showing that it was now considered important News, Tim looked to see that Two-Face was making a move in the open by taking hostages at a party of Gotham's Richest-.

Eyes widening, Tim stood up as it was the exact same party his Dad went to in hopes of trying to get his company back together and his fears were justified as during the shots of the hostages his Dad was shown.

"Dad." Tim said looking very worried for him before his eyes glanced over to his closet where he had a suitcase.

Contrary to what his Dad believed Tim kept his Robin suit and the gadgets just in case he found a way to be Robin, although he didn't even think about them after John took the role and they did nothing but gather dust.

' _No Bruce and John will be there and save him._ ' Tim told himself gripping his desk as he remembered his promise.

Don't go back out there.

But looking back on the TV to see not just his Dad but there were also some children hostage there too, Tim's resolve broke and he threw his closet door open.

Just one more time, then he's giving the suit to Bruce to lock away.

Gotham already had a Robin.

 _ **To Be Continued…**_

 _ **Wow a lot of strong reviews concerning last chapter and I bet there will be equally strong ones for this one as well, but it's necessary because John's time as Robin is over, you all know what that means right? Anyways there's still three or four more chapters left in this Volume before it's finished so a lot of ground to cover.**_

 _ **Oh and yes Tim Drake is officially back as a Vigilante but he won't take up the name Robin, especially after hearing what happens to John, he'll take up the Red Robin mantle early and you can bet that shit will hit the fan when the rest of the Batfamily finds out what happened.**_

 ** _As for Bruce firing John? Well look at it from his perspective he can't predict what John will do anymore, this last stunt cementing that in his head along with the fact that he nearly died that night and Batman isn't exactly stable as he must have some form of PTSD from all he crap he goes through which showed when John took the bullet for him reminding him of finding Jason's body. This is a situation where nobody is right and everyone is in the wrong._**

 _ **Now let me answer the reviews.**_

 _ **Speedking535: Hope you liked how it all went down and yeah maybe I overdid it with how Batman reacted but I think it's in his character, especially with how he was having some flashbacks to Jason's death at the moment.**_

 _ **Dark King Marcel: Thanks and thank you for helping me with this story.**_

 _ **DannyPhantom619: It'll break it because of events from both sides and yes things will suck but they'll also get better. And this Red-X has no Xenothium Core.**_

 _ **Crimson Ninja: Yeah but that's the point, the life was going too well for only the Origins Volume, plus this is one of the core beginnings to him taking up the Red-X mantle.**_

 _ **JTD3: Why yes, yes they do.**_

 _ **Knight: Haha thanks and sorry for the wait, I'll try to not take as much time for the next one.**_

 _ **Iwymoisiraslom: Yup and it's continuing on for the next few chapters.**_

 _ **Slash17: Yup, it was fun typing John as Robin, especially since the fallout was planned from the very beginning.**_

 _ **DefconDeceiver: Thanks and it was fun incorporating both Roman and Neo in this story, especially since with their personalities they fit pretty well in Gotham. Good call on how professional he was on RWBY with the only way he was caught.**_

 _ **Matt: Yeah but that's also human nature, we assume a lot of things and I think the outcome was to be expected with everything combined.**_

 _ **Bael92: Haha yeah and hopefully this chapter was just as good, although the last one was a bit better in my opinion. The transition from Robin to Red-X is in the next few chapters.**_

 _ **Nightmaster000: It's fine, I'm happy to see a review from you. Well that's kind of a pipe dream as a lot of trouble followed with everything that happened. Yeah Stephanie isn't the type to cheat on someone and quickly put a stop to it, but keep in mind if Tim knew he wouldn't have done that in the first place. Still John doesn't know yet. Haha yeah it was fun to type Roman and Neo in this story. Yup, Shriev was the first planned enemy for John to face as Red-X which is why he showed up in the first chapter. Yeah Neo has a certain amount of interest in Robin-even more so when he becomes Red-X but whether that's good or bad is up in the air. I actually didn't know about 'Pink-X' that would be interesting to type.**_

 _ **Superior Batman: No Xenothium-that was a part of the challenge for this story and his Arch-Enemy will be revealed on a much later date-not even in this Volume.**_

 _ **JimmyHall24: Yeah but John doesn't know that.**_

 _ **Badger10: Sorry but John and Stephanie were never the final pairing, I did like typing them and I'm happy people enjoyed how I did things with them. As for him realizing she turned him down that will come much later on.**_

 _ **Saintsrow10: Don't worry they won't get back together but John and Steph won't either as they were never the final pairing. Tim and Stephanie were just reacting to old feelings which a lot of humans do. I'm not going to actively bash anyone, although John might throw a punch to Tim in the future. John and Jason's relationship is the one I worked on the hardest so I'm happy that people enjoyed the friendship between those two.**_

 _ **Powermam: I'll try to work on it soon, sorry for the wait.**_

 _ **Bajor10: Yeah, a few punches might be thrown in the future but eventually they'll put it behind them-it'll be a major arc in Volume 01. Same with him and Bruce but like with Tim they'll eventually work it out. I'll take those pairings into consideration-especially since he'll run into Ravager a bit more in Volume 01, but I can't promise anything about the final pairing being with Cass as that's a possible avenue.**_

 _ **JazzzTech: I know what you mean and I'm happy you're enjoying this story.**_

 _ **Alright this is Spidey Signing Out!**_


	12. Chapter 12: Consequences

_**Chapter 12: Consequences**_

Bruce frowned as he typed on the Batcomputer, sighing as he hasn't gotten much sleep in the last day or so, he was currently wondering how to break it to the others that John was no longer Robin.

He already knew they would disagree with his choice, hell he was also wondering if he truly made the right call, but the image of John being shot once more went through his mind as he narrowed his eyes. What other choice did he have? John showed that he was volatile, he still doesn't know why the teen did what he did, maybe he should've questioned it before coming to a decision instead of rushing it.

And while he doesn't like that he called his 'friends' into Gotham as powers always escalated things in Gotham he knew he should be relieved that John didn't try to go in alone to do something as if he did chances are he would've found Croc over his body.

But it was too late, he made the decision. He can't let John back into this life.

"Is that really the wise course of action Master Bruce?" Alfred's voice took him by surprise as Bruce realized he was muttering to himself.

"How much did I say out loud?" He asked with Alfred sighing.

"Just that last part." Alfred said as he looked towards the case where all the suits were, John's Robin suit was hung in there not repaired along with Dick and Barbara's suits.

Bruce already knew what Alfred was thinking. "You disagree with my decision?"

"Your decision is your own Master Bruce, however you have to remember they don't just affect you anymore." Alfred reminded him not saying if he agreed or disagreed, but is willing to see all sides. "But pushing people away isn't the answer to everything."

Bruce looked down, thinking on that before the computer lit up showing Two-Face making a public move.

Knowing that it was the best shot he had at taking him down, he pulled the cowl back on and rushed to the Batmobile. Still a small part of him couldn't help but find that off.

After what happened the other day he expected for Dent to lay low and regroup his men along with getting better weapons. To make a move like this-even a public one was worrying in itself.

* * *

Tim panted as he made it to the roof of the party. "Man I'm way out of shape." He muttered as he kept with the Kata's and some exercises but using his gear and grappling around the city was a lot different to that.

Still he made it and was looking into the skylight, seeing Two-Face walking through the crowd, holding his coin in one hand, a dead body nearby showing he executed a Hostage already.

' _Where are Bruce and John?_ ' Tim thought as he was hoping they would be in there taking care of it before he even got there.

Yet they aren't, in fact he didn't see any sign of them.

' _I just know that my Dad is going to go ballistic._ ' Tim thought knowing he was mentally putting it off.

This was the first time he put himself in danger like this in over a year and it was against

Two-Face funnily enough. Truth be told it brought him back to the first time he ever wore the Robin costume and saved Batman from Dent.

Of course on seeing him, Bruce ripped the domino mask from his face a bit enraged by the idea that someone dressed up as Robin after what happened to Jason, if Dick or Alfred weren't there the latter actually entering the danger zone at the time-lord knows what would've happened.

So taking a deep breath, Tim broke through the skylight catching everyone's attention as he threw some birdarangs at Two-Face and his men, slicing through their weapons.

Like riding a bike.

Two Face-looked surprised. "Well you're not the Robin I was expecting." He muttered recognizing Tim who smirked as the thugs ran at him. So the former Boy Wonder whipped his metal staff out and got to work.

Punch. Kick. Bash with a staff. Duck. Repeat.

Everything came back to him as he fought and out of the corner of his eye, Tim saw his father looked scared to see him as Robin and he winced.

He'll have to apologize later, right now he needs to wrap this up and hope that his Dad would take an explanation rather than go straight to Bruce and demand what happened.

Soon everyone was down, leaving Two-Face who actually watched without doing anything and that concerned Tim who gripped his staff tightly, especially when he saw that the man didn't have a gun, just his coin which he was slowly turning.

That was when he realized something, none of these men were a part of Two-Face's gang, they were just normal thugs and that was when it clicked. This wasn't Two-Face and only one person in Gotham could disguise himself this well in terms of appearance.

"You can drop the disguise, Clayface." He said with a frown, seeing surprise appear on the man's face before his skin melted away, showing a large mud-like being with yellow eyes.

"What gave me away?" Clayface asked not liking that someone saw through it.

"Besides the fact that you're not in Arkham currently?" Tim asked with a brow to hide his nervousness. "Two-Face wouldn't do something like this in the middle of a Gang War, that's the type of stuff Joker would do."

This got a lot harder because he didn't have any freeze discs and being out of this line of work for a year only to come back against someone like Clayface had him on edge. He supposed he should be lucky that he doesn't have his poisonous touch ability anymore.

Clayface smirked as Two-Face hired him to do this to throw the Bats off his trail while he went to ground.

"Still what are you going to do about it?" Clayface asked his hands becoming mallets to smash the bird boy into paste, not seeing a shadow appear in the rafters-a shadow that Tim saw which made him smirk-the action making Clayface freeze as a deadpanned look came across his face. "... Batman's right behind me isn't he?"

Tim didn't need to answer when freeze capsules shot into Clayface's arms making him cry out as the shattered while Batman landed next to Tim, looking at him with his expression set in stone.

Most people wouldn't be able to decipher that look, but Tim knew what Bruce was thinking as the man was asking why he was there so he subtly looked towards his father, his head moving slightly that only Bruce saw it. The man followed the direction with his eyes and on seeing Jack Drake, he gave a nod, understanding.

As Batman did that, Tim idly wondered where John was as he was surprised to see Bruce by himself, was he somewhere else in the city helping the others in the Gang War?

He didn't have time to think on it more when Clayface regenerated his arms. "What's your play here Basil?" Batman asked using Clayface's real name.

"Nothing just been given quite the role, I'd like to think I sold it since you're both here," Basil Karlo said his hands now turning into blades. "So how about we get to the next scene which is you two in a body bag?!"

As he lunged at them, both Batman and Tim moved in sync as if they never stopped working together, Batman holding out a hand to give Tim a boost as the boy accepted, jumping over one blade as it went across his body armor while Batman slid under another, throwing in freeze capsules that went off, breaking his arms apart before the Dark Knight kicked his knees making them splatter as Clayface lost his footing.

Tim quickly slammed his staff right into Clayface's head making it hard for the man to see as he needed to regenerate his eyes and he didn't have the chance to as Bruce threw more freeze capsules at him and soon enough, Clayface was a frozen statue.

The teen gave a slight smile, happy that was done with while some people were cheering. He'll admit he missed this, but like he said before it was the last time.

Turning from the frozen Clayface, Tim saw Batman looking at him. "Let me make sure Dad is alright and then I'll hand my suit in." He requested quietly and received a nod in return.

As soon as Batman was out of sight, Tim quickly used his grapple to get out of there before getting his phone out to call his Dad once he was out of sight.

It barely rang for two seconds when Jack picked up. " _ **The hell were you thinking?!**_ " Jack demanded concern in his tone as he was making himself scarce to avoid people eavesdropping and if someone did notice he could say his son called as soon as the situation ended. " _ **The hell was Bruce thinking putting you in danger like that-?**_ "

"Bruce had no idea I would be there." Tim quickly said cutting his Dad off. "I only put this on because you were in danger Dad."

" _ **And your solution is to place yourself in danger?**_ " Jack countered his decision. " _ **I thought you gave that suit back to Bruce!**_ "

Tim hesitated and that told Jack all he needed.

" _ **Y-You kept it?**_ " Jack cursed, pinching his nose to relieve some stress before he frowned. " _ **Were you hoping to be Robin again someday?**_ "

"No there's already a Robin." Tim said quickly.

" _ **But you enjoyed that.**_ " Jack said quietly as he saw Tim's face while fighting Clayface.

Tim contemplated what he wanted to say before sighing. It was best to be truthful.

"Yes I did, because I liked helping people, I did that a lot during my time as Robin both in Gotham and as a member of the Titans." Tim said thinking about the team.

He has been a bit of a jerk to not contact them since he told them of his retirement after what happened. Maybe he should get in touch with them again just for a talk, surely he could just hang out with them outside of Titan matters.

" _ **Dammit,**_ " Jack muttered having to lean against the wall. " _ **This isn't right.**_ "

A parent was supposed to take care of their child, to ensure that they don't get into trouble. Their child being a Vigilante was one of the worst things to come.

But in this last year when he kept an eye on his son to ensure he would honor that deal he made to make sure he hung his cape up, he saw how unhappy he was and how while he did keep his end of the deal until that night, he always had a look of longing when he saw Batman and that new Robin on the news.

And if he was being honest with himself, even though he disapproved of what Tim did because of the danger, a small part of him felt nothing but pride for his son for all the good he did.

"Sorry Dad, I'll give Bruce the suit back-."

" _ **No… Don't.**_ "

That made Tim's eyes widen. "W-What?" He asked thinking he heard wrong.

Did his Dad just-?

" _ **Don't get me wrong I hate this, I want nothing more than for you to burn that damn suit,**_ " Jack said to him. " _ **But it wouldn't change a thing, you're already a part of this, it's time I accept it.**_ "

And him sticking his head into the ground won't solve anything.

Tim was at a loss for words.

His Dad just gave his blessing for Tim to be a Vigilante again.

As his Dad hung up, Tim couldn't keep the smile that slowly came across his face.

* * *

John rolled his eyes when he saw the Gotham News going on about the Gang War before it showed Two-Face starting something at the Gotham Elite party and while that concerned him he was pretty sure Bruce would have it covered.

And if not him, then one of the others would.

"Man if only we caught him." Irey muttered seeing that with John nodding before his eyes widened and his blood ran cold at seeing a figure burst through the skylight.

… In a familiar Robin costume.

' _N-No._ ' John thought as Tim appeared on live TV as Robin. ' _This can't be happening._ '

He ignored Irey who began to look really concerned as she saw that along with John's reaction when Tim began to fight the thugs-obviously out of practice but still winning before Two-Face was revealed to actually be Clayface and that was when Batman appeared.

Seeing both Batman and Tim fight together in synch was almost too much for John as he leaned back.

"-ob!" Irey got to his side of the table, shaking his shoulder.

He still didn't say anything, just stare as the camera zoomed in on Tim.

It has barely been a day since he was fired and he was already replaced. No, it couldn't be, Bruce wouldn't do that-.

' _It won't be long before he replaces you. He always does._ ' Jason's words from when he first visited the former Robin rang through his head. ' _Trust me it won't be long before he does that to you._ '

And it was with Tim, his predecessor.

The same person he saw Stephanie kissing. Was he just someone to keep the spot warm until the 'Real' Robin returned for both her and Bruce?

Those thoughts brewed through John as he began to shake before he ran out of the Cafe and down an alley his back against the wall and moments later Irey got to him with her speed after leaving money on the table.

"John!" Irey said finally getting John's attention pulling him out of his thoughts as he could feel the Shock Box in his pocket going crazy.

But he didn't answer it, instead he began to laugh.

That action caught Irey off guard as John laughed and laughed his shoulders shaking as the laughs began to subside into tears.

"Did I even matter?" John said and that made Irey glare as she took her Shock Box out.

"I'll get the others to meet us here-." She began only for John to snatch it out of her hands. "Hey!"

"No, I just want to go home." John said sounding defeated. "I need to be alone."

"That's the last thing you need." Irey countered but John shook his head.

"Irey, please just take me home."

After a second Irey caved. "Fine but I'm checking in on you tomorrow and we're meeting the others."

* * *

"Ow." Tim muttered as he was being patched up.

As it turned out when he jumped over Clayface's arm while it was a sword, it did manage to penetrate the body armor and cut him, so he was currently at the Clock Tower with Barbara patching him up.

"I said this would hurt," Barbara said with some mirth in her eyes. "It's good to see you again Tim."

Batman was using the computer to try and track Dent down while Stephanie, Nightwing and Cassandra just arrived, Dick giving a grin at seeing Tim.

"Way to make an entrance Tim." Nightwing greeted with Tim giving a chuckle.

"Thanks, I only went because Dad was there," Tim said thinking back to his conversation with Jack. "He gave me his blessing."

That caught Barbara's attention. "For what?"

"To be a cape again, I already told KF and Kon." Tim said with a grin.

Cass smiled a bit at that when Stephanie spoke. "So does that mean there are two Robins now?"

That made Bruce pause, something that Dick was quick to notice while Tim spoke. "No, I'm going to do what Nightwing did and make my own identity-speaking of which where is Robin?" Tim asked curiously.

It was a bit surprising not to see him here.

"Yeah where is he?" Nightwing repeated the question looking right at Batman.

This was the first time he was able to see him as Batman changed all the codes in the Batcave yet again. So he was taking this chance.

It got silent as everyone looked at Batman seeing that he didn't immediately answer. "Batman, he's fine right?" Tim asked not using his real name as he was pretty sure Bruce didn't share his identity with Stephanie and Cassandra.

"John is no longer Robin." Batman said catching them all by surprise.

"What?" Cassandra asked sharply while Nightwing frowned.

"What the hell do you mean he isn't Robin anymore?" Stephanie asked giving a glare.

Tim looked bewildered "The hell did I miss?" He asked not expecting this.

From what he knew John was getting along pretty well with everyone, so why isn't he Robin anymore?

"What happened?" Nightwing pressed wanting to know exactly how that came to be.

Pausing for a few seconds, Batman finally turned around and faced them. "When I found him he and the other heroes he called into Gotham were fighting Killer Croc who ingested some of Langstrom's Formula." He explained making Nightwing, Tim and Barbara grimace knowing that must've had some nasty side effects. "John himself was emotionally compromised and not only did he endanger the others he escalated the Gang War by getting Meta's involved."

Cassandra frowned, seeing something wrong with Batman's body language showing there was something else and from how Nightwing looked, he knew it as well.

Tim however just blinked seeing that he had a lot to catch up on before realizing that John most likely saw him as Robin on the News and would get the wrong idea. He'll have to talk with him at school the on Monday.

"So you just fired him?!" Stephanie asked annoyed by that as it was beginning to remind her of when Batman disapproved of what she did.

"You know what that's just like you," Nightwing said giving him a look. "This kind of stuff is exactly why I left before meeting the Titans."

"Okay everyone stop," Barbara said in a forceful tone, not wanting a fight to break out in her apartment, or for anyone to say something they would definitely regret later and was relieved when Nightwing heeded that and backed up. "Thank you, now can we do this without anyone throwing a punch?"

"We're wasting time, the more we argue the harder it'll be to find Dent when he goes into hiding." Batman said turning back to his screen.

Giving a glare, Nightwing turned and walked off, using his com link to make a call.

While he knew Jason wouldn't be happy about this, he knew that the former dead Robin would be more pissed if no one told him.

* * *

An hour later, Jason was on his way to John's house cursing, his annoyed face hidden by his helmet.

Today was just a total shit storm.

First off his attempts at luring Sionis out was met with failure as it turned out to be a trap with a group of his thugs-who are currently tied up instead of dead because he's been holding back a bit more often due to staying in Gotham the last year as he wasn't too keen on having the entire family on his ass during all of this. Then when he got home he discovered that some asshat stole his beer.

When he finds out who stole his beer he was going to beat the crap out of them but that would have to wait as he was just told that Bruce fired John and he was this close to running to the Clock Tower to punch the old man's teeth out but he wanted to check up on John because try as he might hide it he was actually fond of the kid.

So making it to the balcony where John's room was, Jason opened the door only to see what was a very worrying sight.

John sat by his bed, his back to it with empty cans of beer around him, his hair all over the place and he was obviously drunk if the way he was swaying gave any indication.

Well at least he knew who stole his beer and he saw John still had one in his hand and that was when he entered and snatched it.

"Hey." John slurred out as he tried to stand, wobbling but Jason just pushed him back down.

"I think you had enough kid." Jason said counting at least six empty cans of beer already opened out of his twelve-pack. Yeah he was definitely buzzed.

Placing the newly opened beer down, Jason looked at John not exactly sure what to do.

In all of his training and experiences he never handled a drunk sixteen year old before.

"Give it back." John muttered slurring still. "Just want to forget."

"Yeah because that solves every problem," Jason deadpanned with his arms crossed. "I thought you said you don't drink."

"Never said I couldn't." John countered. "I swear to drunk I'm not God."

"The fact that you got that sentence messed up shows you are drunk," Jason told him. "Aren't you worried your Dad will find you like this?"

John laughed as if Jason just told the funniest joke in the world and it had the second Robin on edge as it was sounding too close to the Joker to be natural before he stopped. "That's funny, yer funny," He slurred out. "Dad doesn't give a rat's ass about me, no one does."

"I swear if you start going through an emo phase I will toss you out the window and be done with it." Jason muttered taking his helmet off, his second mask still on his face as he sat in a chair.

"Doesn't make it any less true though." John muttered quietly.

"Okay where is this coming from?" Jason asked curiously.

"You were right, Bruce doesn't care." John muttered giving a slight hiccup making Jason tense as he remembered what he said to him. "I should've quite being Robin on my own terms, asshole didn't even wait a day before bringing Timmy back."

John balled a hand up into a fist and slammed it on the floor.

"Y-You wanna know the kicker?" John asked giving a humorless chuckle. "The other night I went awol was to take my frustration out on criminals when I saw T-Tim and Stephanie kissing."

That surprised Jason as he knew that John and Stephanie were a couple and he swore.

At least that explained why John went off like that and why he didn't talk to anyone along with the watch being destroyed.

Okay he was going to punch Drake and Brown the next time he see's them.

That was when Jason noticed that John was now openly crying. "I never even mattered, I was just there to keep the spot warm wasn't I?" He asked his shoulders shaking. "Why did I let myself believe any differently?"

"Alright that's enough." Jason said not wanting to hear anymore because it was doing nothing but pissing him off.

This was exactly why he didn't like the idea of Bruce taking on anyone else as Robin, because he ruins their lives when they stop. This was a perfect example besides himself.

His first thought was to find Bruce and go through with punching the crap out of him, but he forced himself to stay because he didn't like the idea of leaving a drunk John by himself, especially when he was talking like this and his room had a pretty high balcony.

While he was pretty sure John wasn't suicidal he was not taking that chance.

So he got up and walked over next to John, sitting next to him.

Jason was not good with this stuff, it was always Dick who knew what to do but he felt that John wouldn't like Goldie to see this, hell he was pretty sure once John was coherent he would hate that he broke down like this in front of him. Still he swallowed his awkwardness and placed an arm around John making the teen tense showing that he wasn't used to physical contact outside of being Robin.

That alone worried Jason as he didn't really look into John's life and what he said about his own father made him wonder what else happened but he kept that to himself when John began to cry again and embraced him making Jason feel uncomfortable once more.

… Out of all the drunks John could be he was the clingy one. He'd rather take the angry one because he knew how to handle that one.

It continued like that for an hour before John was out cold, Jason taking the time to look up his father to see that he was on a business trip in Fawcett City and would be gone for a few days so he felt comfortable leaving him there while he was back out in Gotham, making a mental note to head back once he finished with what he had to do.

Finding Bruce wasn't that hard as the man had a set patrol schedule these days and he managed to find him near the Bowery at this time.

"Hood." Batman greeted not turning around and not using his real name as they were in uniform. "I take it Nightwing called you?"

"Look at you, World's Greatest Detective alright," Jason sneered and that made Batman look at him a flicker of surprise in his eyes as Jason left his helmet at John's place. "You really are a Grade-A asshole you know that?"

"I'm not changing my mind, John was too reckless." Batman told him.

"Just like me huh?" Jason asked Batman's sudden silence being all the answer he needed as he walked closer. "You know what Bruce? This last year I was actually beginning to think better of you and then you pull this shit."

Pretty soon he was in Batman's face.

He wasn't going to say anything about John's drunken state, but he did give a glare before throwing a punch.

Batman stumbled back, letting Jason punch him as he saw that coming before regaining his footing as he spat some blood out.

"Never contact me again." Jason spat at him turning around to walk off.

* * *

John groaned the next morning, his head pounding along with his eyes hurting-the light coming through his blinds didn't help much at all before he felt sick to his stomach.

"The heck happened?" He muttered sitting up, feeling a wave of vertigo before seeing the red helmet on his desk and it all clicked.

Oh man how embarrassing, he might not remember all that much but he remembered enough to feel his face heat up in shame. Why did anyone have to see him like that-?

That was when he noticed a smell of food in the air, he could hear bacon sizzling as well.

So standing up, stumbling as he did so, John saw Jason in the kitchen cooking. "Finally awake huh? You might want to get some coffee, it won't make a hangover go away but it helps. So does a hot shower."

"What are you doing here?" John asked his throat sore.

"Making breakfast, figured you wouldn't be in any condition to do so and you need something in your stomach," Jason said to him. "Don't get used to it, I'm still pissed you stole my beer."

John gave a sheepish chuckle. "Uh sorry about that." He said making Jason roll his eyes.

"Just don't do it again, hell don't drink again seeing you all clingy was weird." Jason said with John's face going red again.

"Oh God."

Jason chuckled at that deciding to always remember that for future uses. "So what are you going to do now?"

"Like I told Impulse I don't know." John muttered earning a confused look. "Impulse kidnapped me yesterday to get some answers before I stole your beer, she said the others were going to talk with me today."

Jason gave a nod.

Although he won't admit it he was a bit envious at the fact that John had a group of friends to fall back on, much like how Dick and even the replacement did. He wondered if he ever did would things turn out differently?

"What about you?" John asked breaking Jason out of his thoughts as the older vigilante went silent before answering.

"I'm going to be leaving Gotham today."

John gave a start at hearing that.

"Yeah, I don't want to be in the same city as Bruce at the moment," Jason said darkly before quirking a brow. "You want to come with?"

"I can't, if I do and miss school, Dad will definitely get involved." John said shaking his head.

It was so tempting but he couldn't go.

Jason frowned, thinking back to what John said about his father before giving a nod. "Fine, but remember my offer is always open." He said with a sigh.

"Where do you plan on going?"

"Don't really know, maybe the Caribbean?" Jason muttered as he wanted to get out of the country as well.

Okay now John was really tempted to go with him.

Instead however he smirked. "Send me a postcard," He requested earning a snort from Jason as he stood up to leave. "Hey aren't you taking your helmet?"

Jason paused, forgetting he left it in John's room before waving a hand. "Keep it, I have plenty of them," He said before grinning. "Besides there's a com link in there if you need me."

* * *

"What am I your personal Taxi?" Irey joked when she ran John out to Keystone City where he saw Kaldur, Mia and Static who wore a yellow shirt with red sleeves and red pants sitting at a table of what looked to be an Internet Cafe.

"Well given how I'm currently locked out of the Zeta Beams, you're the only way I can get out of Gotham without tipping Bats off." John pointed out dressed in his Rob clothes out of habit.

"Fair enough." Irey said with a shrug.

That was when John noticed a little eleven year old girl with black hair and green eyes wearing a red hoodie on Mia's lap and quirked a brow at that, especially at the yellow hat she seemed to be wearing that resembled the one that Red Arrow wore when he was Speedy.

"I'm stuck babysitting and she wouldn't leave without her hat," Mia answered easily as they could explain the hat being from a gift store. "This is Lian Harper, Lian this is John."

Lian Harper looked up at him curiously as she was already introduced to the others before Irey went to get John.

The name Harper alone told John that this was Red Arrow's daughter as while he hasn't met the man he heard enough of him from Dick.

"Hello." Lian greeted with an innocent smile.

"Hi yourself." John said sitting down at the table.

Static just chuckled. "So your name is really John?" He asked as John didn't mind them knowing his name considering he wasn't obliged to keep it from them anymore.

"You were expecting something else?" John asked with a raised brow.

"Kind of, John seemed too ordinary for you," Static said before grinning. "You can call me Virgil."

John gave a nod and everyone just spoke, not mentioning anything about being heroes or chasing bad guys, but just being teenagers, just being civilians and John found he appreciated that.

Before becoming Robin he didn't have any friends, here he does and he was happy that this was one thing he wasn't going to lose.

"Are you Robin?" Lian asked suddenly making John tense up in surprise while Mia grimaced. "Aunt Mia told me about all of you."

"Lian." Mia said wishing she didn't bring that up, giving John an apologetic look.

"It's fine I was Robin but… I'm retired." He lied not wanting to say he was fired to an eleven year old.

"Oh like how Daddy was when I met him?" Lian asked as Roy did hang his bow up before deciding to take it up again after Mia joined the Arrow Family.

John chuckled before Kaldur changed the conversation. "How are you doing since your… Retirement?" He asked going with that story for John who gave him a grateful look.

"Honestly lost." John said leaning back. "And angry."

"Don't blame you." Mia commented with a snort.

To be fired and replaced a day later? That's just messed up.

If Ollie did that she would've been heartbroken.

John gave a nod as he didn't say anything about the issue between him and Stephanie, not wanting to really talk about it.

"It is good that you are well regardless." Kaldur said with a smile. "We feared the worst the other day."

"I know what you mean," Virgil said a frown on his face. "You know as much as I respect your mentor, that was a horrible move to pull."

Lian looked between them, obviously wondering what they meant but decided not to ask.

"Yeah, still nothing I can do about it." John said a bit bitterly before Irey looked confused.

"So why not make your own identity?"

That caught John off guard as he was too wrapped up in not being Robin again that the thought didn't occur to him.

"Now there's an idea." Mia said with a grin, mostly because she knew that by doing this they would be pissing the Bat off.

Sure the man had a say on 'Robin' but whoever John becomes he would have no say in.

"Um I'm not exactly sure about this." John said a bit hesitantly.

On one hand he was happy that they still thought of him as a fellow 'hero' but on the other hand he had to be realistic.

He had only one year of experience, about eighteen months of training and he still has a lot to learn. Not only that but he doesn't have access to the gadgets that Batman uses which are extremely vital.

"You don't have to but the option is still on the table." Kaldur said, seeing how John seemed conflicted.

Virgil gave a nod, looking interested. "Yeah dawg, Gear and I could help out with some of the tech if you need it." He offered as the two North Dakota heroes always made their own tech on a budget, Gear being a Technopath was a lifesaver for them.

That took away some of the unease John was feeling as he's seen some of the tech they used when he still had access to the Batcomputer and he knew that Gear was extremely smart given what he made.

And he does have the blueprints for the Grapple memorized along with knowing pretty well how to hack-with knowing Oracle's systems he could easily evade hers if he's careful.

So it was something to consider.

"So who's hungry?" Irey asked with a grin considering they were at a Cafe.

"Is that a rhetorical question?" Virgil asked considering her metabolism as she stuck her tongue out at him.

"It would be a good idea to eat before we go our separate ways for the day." Kaldur said cupping his chin in thought.

"How about fish fillet?" Mia asked in a joking tone while Kaldur gave her a look showing he was not amused.

Lian who has kept quiet lightly tapped Mia. "Be nice." She chided earning a snicker from Virgil.

"Yeah, be nice." Virgil repeated with a wide grin.

"You're lucky Lian is here or I would shoot an arrow." Mia warned him.

John just smiled as they began to look through the menu.

* * *

That night John was preparing to go to bed after hiding the helmet and getting rid of the beer cans when he heard someone knocking on the door. A bit curious in who it was, he opened it only to grimace.

It was Stephanie.

"Go away." He said attempting to close the door but she quickly stopped it.

"John I heard what happened from Batman." She said wanting to talk. "I'm sorry that happened-."

"I bet you are."

That cut Stephanie short. "What?" She asked not expecting that at all

John glared at her, the action in itself catching Stephanie by surprise. "I saw you and Tim that night," He said making her eyes widen when she realized what he was talking about. "Nice to see that you two are happy with each other."

"Wait John it's not like that." Stephanie tried to say, but John laughed.

"Oh really?" The disbelief was evident on his face. "I know what I saw, you didn't exactly stop him, in fact you were kissing him back."

Stephanie grimaced remembering that and John slammed the door shut before she could try and explain.

"You two are perfect for each other." She heard him snarl as she took a step back.

"John." She knocked trying to get him to open up.

"If you pick that lock I'm calling the police, don't tempt me Brown!" John warned before some loud music began to play to ignore her.

* * *

To say Stephanie was miserable would've been an understatement as she sat in her room, her eyes wet.

She can't believe that happened, of all the things John could've seen it was that.

Well it certainly explained his behavior, but she stopped the kiss didn't she?

Why did her mind react to the kiss like that?

If John just gave her a chance to explain she would've told him what happened. But in truth she couldn't blame him for being angry at her.

It was ironic, the reason she and Tim broke up was because she saw a girl flirting with him and jumped to conclusions. Now this happened.

Was it karma for that?

Hearing her window open, Stephanie wiped her eyes as she saw Cassandra giving her a curious look. "Hey Cass."

Cass had a habit of sneaking into her room at times to either go on patrol or to just see how she was doing.

"Miss training." Cassandra said simply making Stephanie wince.

"Crap, I forgot that was today." She said before Cassandra simply walked over to her and sat down.

"What's wrong?" Cassandra asked in concern.

Sniffling a bit, Stephanie sighed. "I screwed up, big time."

* * *

The next day, John was on his way to school pocketing a cell phone he just got the other day to replace his broken one, shouldering his backpack before he paused at seeing someone he really didn't want to see at the entrance.

"John." Tim Drake was approaching him with a guilty look showing that Stephanie most likely told him of their encounter. "Hi-."

John physically pushed past him with a glare. "Don't talk to me." He warned him.

"Wait I just want to talk." Tim grabbed his arm and John reacted before he could stop himself.

Spinning around he punch Tim right in the face making him hold his nose which began to bleed much to John's relief.

"Just stay the fuck away from me." John told him as he walked off.

Tim held his bleeding nose and sighed.

He deserved that much with everything that was going on.

John just made it to his class a few moments later and sat next to Felix who gave him a concerned look as he saw what happened. "You alright?"

"Yeah, just needed to get that out of my system," John said feeling better now that he decked Tim. "So how was your weekend?"

It was most likely better than his.

"Nothing interesting really happened, just played some online games," Felix answered leaning back as he looked at him. "So did you see the News about the return of the third Robin?"

John froze not wanting to talk about that, but he knew he should've seen it coming.

Out of all his friends, Felix was the only one that didn't know of his former double-life-in fact Felix was his only 'civilian' friend. And the return of Tim as Robin is News to a lot of people as much as he disliked it.

So instead of being angry, John forced a smile on his face. "Really? How about that?"

Felix however felt his concern grow for his friend, easily seeing through the fake smile, but class began and he had to shelve that thought for a later date.

As he listened to the teacher, John felt his new phone buzz catching him by surprise as he quickly checked it once he was sure the teacher wasn't watching.

' _ **You alright?**_ '

Obviously confused, John texted back. ' _ **Who is this?**_ '

It didn't take long for a reply to appear. ' _ **It's Helena, just heard about what happened, took a bit to get your number since you don't have a com link anymore.**_ '

This just confused John even further, why was Helena texting him? He barely knew her compared to the others. Then again he was on good terms with her as she wasn't officially fighting alongside the others, in fact she usually teams up with her friend who goes by Power Girl around Opal City when she isn't busy helping with the Gang War in Gotham.

' _ **Do I want to know?**_ '

The reply was quick. ' _ **Nothing illegal I can promise that.**_ '

Barely suppressing a snort, John kept an eye on the teacher. ' _ **I'm fine, thanks BB.**_ '

' _ **BB? Really?**_ '

' _ **It's short and easy to type, cut me some slack.**_ ' Hearing a cough, John looked up to see the teacher looking at him.

So he quickly turned his phone off and put it up with a sheepish grin. "Sorry Mr. Richards." He said to his History Teacher.

* * *

It was after school as John was walking around, dressed as Rob once more as he felt more comfortable walking around like that rather than as John, resisting the urge to head to Wayne Manor as it was a habit that he would head there after school.

' _So why not make your own identity?_ ' Irey's words went through his head as he kept walking and John couldn't help but think about it some more.

It was true that he could just make a new identity, Batman would hold no jurisdiction over him but he would no doubt interfere.

A large part of him wanted to do this just to screw with Bruce because he fired him, but that shouldn't be the reason if he chose to do that.

Maybe he could as Jason for advice on that-?

"Help!" John's head snapped up at hearing the cry for help as well as a scream.

Following the noise he saw a young woman along with a little girl being dragged into an alley by a bunch of punks, they didn't look to belong to a gang that he knew of.

Eyes narrowing, John took off after them knowing that there was a chance that Batman wouldn't be around during the day and he wasn't going to take the chance about the others.

By the time he caught up he saw that they were holding the crying girl hostage while pointing a gun at the woman, ordering for her to give her valuables.

Eyes narrowing, John saw a trash can lid and formulated a plan when one of the thugs noticed him. "This ain't a show kid, get lost-." He began when John grabbed the lid and threw it, hitting the armed thugs hand, knocking the gun out of it, the momentum from hitting the hand had it bounce off and hit the guy holding the girl in the face, making him let go of the girl.

John easily ran in there and rolled to duck a punch, kicking another thug's feet out from underneath him, catching another punch, using the momentum to throw the guy into his friends.

"Hey are you stupid, you're messing with the Purple Dragons." One of the thugs shouted with John quirking a brow.

Who the hell were the Purple Dragons?

Deciding to file that to look into later, John smirked. "You guys must suck considering I've never heard of you." He taunted seeing their faces go red and they ran at him.

They were just thugs with no combat training, in fact it took almost no time at all until they were on the ground out cold.

Seeing them out cold, John relaxed and took notice of the tattoos of a purple dragon on their hands, neck and even on a shoulder.

A new street gang in Gotham was never a good thing.

Looking from them, he saw the young woman looking relieved right as the little girl suddenly hugged him, barely reaching his waist. "Whoa you were so cool mister, are you a Superhero like Batman?" She asked taking him by surprise as her brown eyes were full of curiosity and wonder.

"Nell you're bothering the boy." Her mother said with a fond smile before looking at John. "Thank you for saving us."

"It's no problem." John said with a grin. "Happy to help, you should get going before anything else happens."

"Wait what's your name? I'm Nell Little." The girl said looking at him.

John paused not wanting to say his real name, but he also didn't want to say Rob because some people would put it together he was Robin, especially if these guys were interviewed and his name was given he would be visited by Bruce and warned not to do this again.

His eyes scanning the alley, he saw an X spray painted on the wall and quickly latched onto that. "Call me X." He said with a grin as the twinkle in his eyes were hidden behind the sunglasses.

With that said he walked off with Nell giving a wave. "Bye X!" She said while the mother was calling the police.

As he left, John thought back to what he just did.

If there was any doubt about him still going out there to help people that would've erased it. None of the other Bats showed up in that situation and he took it into his own hands.

' _X._ ' He thought testing it out, already imagining a look. ' _I might be able to work with that._ '

So taking out his Shock Box, John grinned. "Hey Static you there?"

" _ **What's up?**_ " Static answered easily as he was on patrol currently. " _ **Something happen?**_ "

"You want to talk shop about equipment?" John asked, Static easily getting what he meant.

He wasn't going to fully rely on them as he wants to build his own stuff, but they could bounce ideas off of each other.

 _ **To Be Continued…**_

 _ **Wow this one came out a lot quicker huh? I'm typing quite a bit on the Pokemon story-it only has 13 pages so far but I promise I'll get that out to you. However this story is almost complete-holy crap I can't believe I just said that-so it will be focused on the most.**_

 _ **That being said hope you enjoyed everything happening from a drunk John-I made him clingy because let's face it he hasn't had much physical affection in his life to showing the aftermath of him being fired. So let me get the Reviews out of the way and post this.**_

 _ **Dark King Marcel: I know, typing that was pretty difficult, along with showing the almost broken John in this chapter.**_

 _ **Nightmaster000: Yup, he sure does take a lot of risks, it's a part of his charm as well as one of his biggest flaws if you think about it. Nope-originally he was supposed to be Robin for only two chapters but it was extended so I could do a lot of development and it became a whole volume showing his origins. Haha yeah I love making the bad guys even more dangerous, as for the idea of doing that to Croc again but making it permanent-I might. He'll be a hero but you'll have to wait and see when we get to that point. Control Freak is already a planned enemy but Mad Mod is also-in fact Mod already appeared in this story if you look close enough *Grins* You just have to be pretty observant in where he appeared at and know his real name. As for Benjamin well you'll see.**_

 _ **DannyPhantom619: You'll see as for the tools, we'll he was trained by a Bat so he'll have a lot of equipment.**_

 _ **Coldblue: Yeah a lot has happened with John and you're right teenagers do act more on emotions than anything else and that can be dangerous for them. I figured with how the two criminals were portrayed as-or how I read them as-that would be how they would react to the other being caught. Yeah and Batman does have a habit of pushing people away when they're nearly killed, especially if it reminds him of a certain loss. Yeah he does have quite a few friends to fall back on when crap hits the fan, plus he never actually had any friends until he became Robin with how he was so he definitely treasures them above anything else.**_

 _ **Now for your questions. 1) Eventually yes, but he will already be Red-X by then. 2) He won't focus so much on the idea of dating after what happened, this was the end of his first ever relationship after all. 3) I have no clue about that, maybe. 4) Most likely not. 5) Huh now those ideas have merit, I might do something like that but they would most likely be much later in Volume 01 or maybe 02. 6) Well the whole seeing his girlfriend kiss someone else might not come up because really who the heck talks about it? But he will be more open with them than any other former Robin.**_

 _ **Piemaster981: Yup and the next chapter will show that so be prepared.**_

 _ **Superior Batman: Yeah, and it got worse for him in this chapter but now he's picking himself back up.**_

 _ **Knight: Haha thanks it was fun to type along with this one. I honestly didn't think I would get this far with the story when I first began.**_

 _ **Crimson Ninja: Yeah and then you read this chapter and realize how much worse it could get. But the worse parts are over so hope you enjoy the future chapters as much as the past ones.**_

 _ **Iwymoisiraslom: Nope, no teleportation or Zeta Beams, just skill… And maybe some high-tech.**_

 _ **Badger10: Yup, hopefully I showed how it would've gone down in this was the comics, especially the part with Jason.**_

 _ **Bajor10: Haha yeah that's why he gets along with Jason the most and there will be a bit of a strain between John and the rest of them for the near future. As for Ravager? The next time they meet will be when he's Red-X in the next Volume.**_

 _ **Phew, alright this is Spidey Signing Out!**_


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